Naruto: Mercy of the Shinigami
by MercenaryGrax
Summary: On the night of the Kyuubi attack, the Shinigami chose to take mercy on a newborn Naruto. The Shinigami allowed Kushina Uzumaki to remain among the world of the living. As a result, Naruto and his sister Naruko grew up not only knowing the love of their mother, but they also grew up being loved by their village. How will all of this change things? AU/slight OOC
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – Academy Days & Naruto's First Friends**

Today was the day young Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze would be entering the ninja academy. Currently, he was 9 years-old, but thankfully he wasn't wearing that orange number that he used to be so fond of when he was younger. It took a little convincing from his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, and sister, Naruko, to get him to change up his wardrobe some, but when he conceded, the new outfits he began to wear in preparation for his ninja training was, in a word, brilliant.

In honor of the women's red hair, Naruto now wore a deep red cape with the Uzumaki swirl pattern in orange plastered in the middle of it. He wore a black, sleeveless shirt that hugged his chest. His pants were slightly baggy and were of a dark blue color. On his feet he wore sandals quite similar to the kind worn by his godfather: Jiraiya the Toad Sage. Strapped to his back was Naruto's new sword, a nodachi specially forged for him per request of his mother. It was gifted to him just yesterday by his beautiful redhead of a mother along with a promise. If he did well and passed at least in the top 3 of his class when the time came around, he would be given another sword of _his_ choosing.

Meanwhile, around Naruto's neck hung a gift from his sister. She was two years older than he was and oftentimes wore her hair in two beautiful pigtails. In fact, her hair was so long that it easily brushed along the ground! Like their mother, Naruko had beautiful red hair, though there were a few long, blonde bangs that framed her face. Like her brother, she too had striking blue eyes that one could just lose themselves in. At the age of 11, she stood at about 4 feet, 7 inches tall, already growing at an alarming rate all things considered. Like Naruto, Naruko had a thing for Kenjutsu and held two short blades strapped to her sides whenever she left home.

Now, as for the gift that Naruko had given to her brother, it was a simple necklace with a beautiful sapphire gem embedded in it. The important thing worth noting about this particular necklace was the seal upon the gem. The lovely young redhead had designed the seal herself and assured her that should he ever find himself in trouble, all he'd have to do would be to rub a bit of blood over the seal and something special would happen. Naruko's description of her gift was rather vague, but the important thing was that it made her otouto happy.

After eating a hearty breakfast and getting a hearty kiss from their mother, the Uzumaki-Namikaze siblings rushed out of the house waving good-bye to Kushina. Giggling happily, Naruko clutched her younger brother's hand tight and grinned at him. "So Otouto, are you excited for your first day at the academy?" When the young Naruto nodded his head eagerly and patted the sword on his back with a grin, Naruko giggled. "Yep onee-san, I'm ready! I have a question though: is it true that there aren't any Kenjutsu classes? If so, that seems really stupid to me. Kenjutsu's the best!" Naruko giggled and shook her head. "The academy has apparently really changed since Mom and Pop's days in the academy. Apparently times of peace cause leniency in studies or some such thing. Trust me though Naruto-kun, you'll have little to no problems at all in the academy. You'll pass when the time comes _easy_. I sure will miss you when I become a Genin though. If I have my say though, we're gonna become Chunin together Otouto!"

Naruto just nodded dumbly, not really paying that much attention to her as she rambled on about cookies or some such thing. Instead, his eyes had become glued to the academy building and the very many new students arriving with their families. Blinking a few times, he slowly removed his hand from his onee-san's grasp and tugged on her shirt a bit. "Onee-san? I-I'm nervous. There are so many people here and I don't know anybody. You and Shikamaru are the only ones I know."

Naruko, coming out of her ramblings, looked down to her otouto and then at the sight before them. Giggling cutely, she put a gentle hand upon Naruto's back and gave him a light push forward. "Don't act so afraid Naruto-kun. You've got more training than anyone here, even the Uchiha of your year. I'm not sure what he'll be like after his clan's murder last year, but if he dares to give you any trouble, feel free to let me know and I'll bop the little punk for you okay Otouto? If he's smart, the little guy will just be happy he and his mother were spared. Mikoto's such a sweet woman, right Naruto?" Giggling cutely, she watched as Naruto nodded his head excitedly.

Throughout their lives, 'Auntie' Mikoto had been nothing but sweet to them. In fact, she oftentimes doted on them as much as her own children and often presented them with gifts. Naruto actually had a few of her gifts with him today: a shuriken set and a kunai set. It was a simple gift, but the tools were very well-crafted and even to this day they were in fantastic shape. The young blonde boy practiced with them almost daily to extraordinary degrees. In fact, he was so proud of his abilities that he dared to claim he could hit his targets blindfolded if need be! More than that however was the fact that he was always trying to hold Mikoto's hand and brag to her about how awesome he was now thanks to hers and his mother's constant gifts and training. And yet, somehow, he had never met her son, Sasuke, until today. Oh how he would come to hate the Uchiha brat.

_**Later in Class**_

Naruto walked into his classroom after bidding farewell to his sister and looked around cautiously. When his eyes landed on Shikamaru, the young blonde boy breathed a sigh of relief and immediately rushed to sit by him and the boy munching loudly on some rather crunchy-sounding chips. Rather than focus his attention on 'Tubby' as he delegated the young man in his mind, Naruto focused his gaze on the brunette kid with his hair up in a pineapple fashion.

Poking Shikamaru in the shoulder to get his attention, Naruto beamed at him and shook his hand. "Hey Lazy! I'm glad we're in the same class together. Who's your friend?" Pointing past the young Nara heir, Naruto motioned towards 'Tubby'. Shikamaru followed his gaze and then looked back again with a small shrug. "That's…" The Nara yawned loudly and did his best to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "That's Choji Akimichi, one of my very best friends since early childhood along with you, of course. As I'm sure you're curious, I'll let you know who else I know in the room too okay? Then you're on your own if you want to try and make friends with them or not. It'll be far too troublesome to introduce you to each of them."

Pointing down to a pink-haired girl and the blonde girl next to her, Shikamaru nodded. "Pinky's name is Sakura Haruno. I've never really talked to her, but I've seen her a few times. The girl next to her is Ino Yamanaka. Our families know each other. After all, our dad's were on the same team together when they were younger, so we kinda talk from time to time. Ino's always trying to get me to play these girlie games and crap with her but it's all just too damn troublesome to even think about. In fact, Ino's how I know of Sakura there. They're apparently really good friends. Now, who else is there?"

Looking around the room, Shikamaru spotted Sasuke and groaned. "Mopey over there is the 'almighty Uchiha', Sasuke. He got in here shortly before you did and all he's done is mope in that damn corner over there. It seems that losing most of his clan really screwed with his mind. I heard his brother was actually the one responsible, but I'm not quite sure what Itachi actually _did_ to him. If I heard right, Sasuke was actually in a coma for a short time. Troublesome, I know. Still, enough about him. Let's see…"

Glancing around again, Shikamaru pointed towards a young girl who immediately shrunk under the gazes of the two young friends. "The shy girl there. Not sure if you recognize the eyes or not, but that's a member of the Hyuga clan. Her name's apparently Hinata and it's said she's the heiress, daughter of the great Hiashi Hyuga. Still, with how timid she's acting in everyone's presence, you wouldn't really believe she was one of them. Right Naruto?"

Naruto looked at the girl for a bit longer before turning to face his friend and shrugging. "Maybe she's just nervous about her first day of the academy? I doubt all Hyuga are as stuck up as the ones we've seen Shika. I also don't think she'd like us making assumptions about her based on what clan she's from. I mean…you know of my 'problem' already Shika, and you've seen firsthand how rude some people have been to me DESPITE knowing who my parents are, so is it really fair to judge somebody when I'm in a similar situation myself?"

Shikamaru sighed and scratched at the back of his head a moment before he nodded his head calmly. "Yeah, you're right there Naruto. Sorry about that man." Turning to the Hyuga girl, Shikamaru and Naruto both bowed their heads to her. "We're sorry Hinata-san. Forgive us for our rudeness." The both of them said in unison. If they hadn't replied, the two of them knew that Kushina would most likely beat the lesson of respect right back into them later. Hinata simply blushed and tried to stammer out a response when their teacher walked in and yelled at them all to be quiet. Glancing at who it was, Naruto grinned a bit. "Hey, Scarface-sensei looks kind of awesome Shika-san!" And that only got our little blonde yelled at for insulting his sensei. _Oh yeah, this is going to be a long three years._ Naruto thought as he began to groan.

_**After Class – Ichiraku Ramen**_

Naruto and Naruko were seated in their favorite seats at their favorite ramen stand in the village: Ichiraku Ramen. Their mother might be a little upset with them for spoiling their appetites, but hey, it was Naruto's first day at the academy! Aside from that, Naruko just wanted to spoil her brother a little more before they went home. So, as they sat waiting for the Ichiraku's to finish cooking their ramen, Naruko turned to her brother and grinned. "Sooo, tell me how your first day went Otouto!"

The father/daughter duo perked up at this and decided to listen in at this, curious to hear what their little Naru-kun had been up to today. They dearly hoped his teacher was treating him right and that the other students of the class were at least nice to him. Naruto certainly deserved happiness after what his own father had locked away inside of him. There were many people who claimed Naruto was the demon in disguise, and while most were immediately dealt with, their words still stung Naruto and had nearly convinced him a few times that he was to blame for the fact that he didn't have a father. So naturally, they found themselves feeling very concerned for their young friend.

Naruto shrugged and looked into his sister's eyes. "It was okay. I sat by Shikamaru. He introduced me to a few people, but he didn't really say much because he, as he puts it, 'figured it was too troublesome to try and introduce me to everybody when I could just learn more about them throughout the coming years'. I met Mikoto-obasan's son today and I really only have one thing to say about him: he SUCKS! Sasuke-teme's a pain-in-the-ass and I'm amazed somebody as sweet and gentle as Mikoto-obasan could have such an awful son!"

Grumbling for a while, he barely registered when three bowels of ramen were placed before both he and his sister. Naruko placed a comforting hand over his and smiled sweetly at him. "Tell me Otouto, what did he do to upset you so bad?" Naruto lowered his gaze and clenched his fist tight. "The teme insulted my friends, insulted Minato-chichi, and said some really nasty things about you and me. Then on top of all of that, he tried to take my sword! Said something about how I didn't deserve it and AGAIN insulted our chichi! I put him in his place though. Iruka-sensei let us have a Taijutsu match and I mopped the floor with that teme! I kinda wonder how Mikoto-obasan will feel when she sees her little 'Sasuke' tonight?"

Naruko was fuming throughout her brother's tale, but at that last thought the young woman and their friends, the Ichirakus, couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the image that popped into their minds when they tried to imagine a wounded Sasuke running home with his tail between his legs to cry to his mommy. Reaching over again, Naruko squeezed her brother into a tight hug and kissed his cheek sweetly. "Thanks for doing that to the teme for us Naruto-kun. Other than a whiny little runt, how did the rest of your day go?"

Grabbing their chopsticks, the siblings cracked their sets apart at the same time, put their hands together and shouted, "Itadakimasu!" and dug in. Thanks to acquiring proper manners, kudos to Mikoto for that, Naruto didn't speak again until he had finished with his first bowl. "Well, I met the Hyuga heiress. Hinata's really nice, but she's soooooo shy. She's actually nothing like what you'd expect from a Hyuga Onee-san. There's also this really cool kid that plays with bugs! I think he said his name was Shino something."

At this point, Naruko interrupted now that she had finished two of her three bowls. "An Aburame? It sounds like you really liked him. How does he feel about you Naruto-kun?" Her little brother went through his final two bowls before he placed some money upon the counter and smiled at his sister. "We get along just fine Onee-san. Shino's really nice and respectful and said I might even get to meet his family someday! There was this kid named Kiba too…I don't like him very much. Kiba Inuzuka I think is what he called himself. For some reason he thinks he's better than everybody else and constantly insulted me. He's got some kind of complex I think, but I'm not too sure. What do you think Onee-san?"

Naruko finished her bowl, paid for her portion of the meal, and rose from her seat. Gently taking Naruto's hand in hers, the two bid farewell to their friends and left the ramen stand to make their way home after his first day at the academy. "Well Naruto-kun, I'm not really sure what to think. If I were to make some kind of judgment about him now, based solely on your opinion of him, that wouldn't exactly be very fair now would it? I would first have to meet this young man before I could give you an accurate assessment of him. Make sense Naruto-otouto?"

The young child nodded his head and smiled happily up at his sister as they began to approach their estate. "That makes perfect sense Naruko-onee-san! You're still as smart as ever. I hope that I get to be like you and Kaa-san when I get older. Kaa-san's already an amazing ninja and you're about to graduate the academy and become an awesome Genin! I want to be just as great when I'm older!"

Giggling cutely to herself, Naruko turned and placed a soft kiss atop her brother's head. "You are so sweet Naruto-kun. I have one final question for you before we go inside." At the look in his eyes, she giggled more and watched as he nodded his head, curious about what her question would be. "Did you find any cute girls?" At the look that suddenly took hold of his face, the young redhead burst into a fit of giggles and clutched at her stomach.

Naruto blushed furiously and shook his head. "Th-That's not funny Baka Onee-san! You already know I met some girls, but I don't think of any that way yet and you know it! Sure Ino was kind of pretty and Hinata's cute in her shy way, but I'm not interested in anybody yet. I'm too young for that stuff! How about you? How's that boy you're always talking about, huuuh Onee-san?!" Naruto teased back as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Naruko saw this and laughed harder. "You're just too cute sometimes Naruto-kun. As for that 'boy', I'm afraid he's already got a girlfriend and I didn't even really like him that much to begin with. His skills are kind of sloppy and he didn't really impress me in any way. I guess he was just cute or something." Shrugging her shoulders, Naruko opened the door and smirked at her little brother. "Come on Hoshino Ouji-sama. (Little Prince) Let's go say hi to Kaa-chan and tell her how your day went. Tell her I took you to get ramen though and we're doomed. Understand?" Nodding hesitantly, Naruto followed her inside so they could spend the rest of the night happily with their mother.

_**1 ½ Years Later**_

Academy life had been fun for Naruto for the past 1 ½ years. Sasuke had continued to insult him, but he could never really do anything to faze Naruto anymore. All insults were now ignored, all threats were proved moot when Naruto would pummel him into the ground during 'Taijutsu practice', and Sasuke was never able to beat him at anything. So, in essence, it was pointless to let Sasuke get to him in any way for any reason. There were some Sasuke fangirls who absolutely _despised_ Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze for how he treated their precious Sasuke-kun, but surprisingly Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka were not amongst their fan base.

Instead, Ino and Naruto had become fast friends and even bonded over something as simple as gardening. As soon as Ino overheard that the young blonde boy enjoyed taking care of planets and had a small selection in his room and even in his backyard that he tended to back at home, she was practically smitten. Sure Sasuke had his looks, skills, and that tough guy attitude that most girls their age seemed to go for, but Naruto was just so much sweeter and kinder. It was hard _not_ to like the guy! Oftentimes, Ino would ask if she could come over to his house so they could train together or even just to talk and bond more over the many flowers and plants he had.

Sakura on the other hand was a bit of a different case. She had tried to befriend Sasuke and had developed a bit of a crush on him at first, but one day things changed and she just couldn't look at him the same way anymore. Thinking back on it, the young pinkette started smiling as she thought about how Naruto had 'come to her rescue' that day.

_Flashback_

"S-Sasuke-kun? I noticed that you're always sitting by yourself and you seem kind of…lonely. So…I decided I would sit with you today. I also brought you some homemade lunch. So…will you let me sit with you and be your friend Sasuke-kun?" An unusually timid Sakura asked shyly as she tried to scoot closer to the young Uchiha.

Sasuke turned to her with narrowed eyes and stared at the small box she was holding in her hands. Snatching it from her hands without a word, he took the lid off and looked at the food inside. Shoving it back to her, the brooding Uchiha looked back out the window. "Whatever that is, it doesn't even look edible to me. Get out of my sight girl. You're useless to me."

With that comment, Sakura looked as if she was about to break down. When it appeared as if she wasn't going to move, the Uchiha rose from his seat and looked as if he was about to strike her. That's when a hand appeared on Sakura's shoulder and both she and Sasuke froze when they saw who it belonged to.

Smiling down at her, Naruto lifted up her box and sniffed the food inside. "Well, despite what he says, your food may not _look_ great, but it certainly smells wonderful Sakura-chan. If he won't eat it, would it be okay if I had these?" When the pinkette nodded slowly, the young blonde before her grinned happily and held out his hand to her. "Even if you already know who I am, it's nice to officially meet you Sakura Haruno-san. I am Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." Grinning, he gently took her hand and helped her up and away from Sasuke. Shooting a quick glare at the teme, Naruto shook his head and turned around without saying a word.

"Just ignore him for now Sakura-chan. I'll gladly be your friend if you need another friend. You can even sit with me from time to time if you'd like. I normally sit beside Shika, but just talk to me and I'll gladly sit beside you whenever you want." At that, Sakura smiled brightly and hugged him tight, thanking Naruto for being so nice to her.

_End Flashback_

Thinking back on that day, Sakura found herself blushing a bit as she looked upon the blonde Uzumaki. She was actually sitting on one side of him while on the other side Ino was chatting away with him about something that she had completely lost track of while reminiscing about when they had first became friends. Despite all that, she soon hugged him from behind and smiled happily at him. "You're so great Naruto-kun!" She giggled happily as she snuggled into him from behind, much to the blonde boy's embarrassment.

Ino soon went red and began to yell at Sakura. "Hey! We were talking Sakura! Why'd you have to go and interrupt us like that?!" Sakura blinked a couple of times, but instead of apologizing she peeked her head out from behind Naruto and stuck her tongue out childishly at her blonde female friend. "It's true. He's been so nice to us and I just couldn't help myself." Looking into Naruto's face, she grinned and kissed his cheek just to make him blush and torment Ino in the process. "Naruto-kun, could I come by later and train with you today? You help Ino and your other friends out all the time, so I wanted to finally take you up on that offer. Is that okay?" She asked with a cute little pout.

In his head, Naruto knew it was impossible to say no to such a cute face and let his shoulders droop. "I don't see why not Sakura-chan, but you'll be stuck with Choji and I and we can get a little rough sometimes. Are you all right with that?" When Sakura simply smiled and nodded with a big grin that she _obviously_ picked up from him, Naruto simply chuckled and shook his head. "All right. Come on by whenever you feel like it tonight. I'll tell Kaa-san to include dinner plans for you as well." Smiling sweetly at her, Naruto completely missed the furious expression on Ino's face. Yes, he had just put himself in a very bad situation.

After Iruka-sensei finally stepped into the room with his fellow Chunin sensei, Mizuki, Naruto found his thoughts wandering to his sister and what she might be up to at the moment. The young Uzumaki-Namikaze member chuckled quietly to himself as he remembered how flustered she was when she came home one day after a particularly tiring day.

_Flashback_

Naruko threw open the door and stared blankly at her younger brother and her Kaa-chan sitting together sipping tea after what was likely another tiring training session for the two. When the two simply stared at her and nodded their heads in greeting, the young redhead began to feel something snap inside of her. "Gah! Don't just nod at me! Say something you two! Today just sucked dattebane!"

Blinking at this, Naruto cocked an eyebrow and motioned for her to sit in between him and their mother. Naruko saw this and felt like she was about to burst into tears as she slowly shut the door behind her. A few short minutes later and Naruko had thrown off her jacket, dropped her swords on the floor, let her hair loose from her usual pigtails, grabbed herself some tea, and collapsed onto the couch in between her two family members. Taking a soft sip, she breathed out a sigh of relief and set her teacup down on the coffee table before them.

"My team SUCKS!" she announced angrily, causing both family members to look at her with wide eyes. "Naruko-chan? What brought this on? I thought you really enjoyed spending time with your teammates? You have a really good sensei too. Did something happen?" The next thing her two family members knew, Naruko had grasped Naruto's teacup, put it beside hers, and knocked him to the couch in a bone-crushing hug. "They're so mean dattebane! I tried to explain to them that I want to wait to become a Chunin until you're in a Genin squad of your own and we can become Chunin together, but they just kept yelling at me! Sensei even tried to lecture me a bit and tried to say that 'when the team is ready, he's signing us up whether we like it or not', but I told him to buzz off! If they want to become Chunin so badly, they can go off and do it without me. I'm staying a Genin until my little Naruto-kun and I can become Chunin together! Then we can be on our own squad of Chunin together or something and we won't have to worry about the stupid people trying to keep us apart anymore! Right Naruto-kun?!"

Naruto, seeing this as his only chance to acquire some much, _much_ needed air, quickly nodded his head. "Y-Yes Onee-san. Please let go now and relax. Can't…breathe…" Naruko immediately turned _very_ red at this and quickly released him. She nervously began to run her fingers through her deep red locks of hair as her brother went back to sipping his tea in quiet. Glancing to her other side, she saw her mother smirking at her. Recognizing that her mother now had material to use for later when teasing her about things, Naruko quickly huffed, grabbed her teacup, and stormed away from her 'Baka Kaa-san.'

_End Flashback_

Chuckling softly to himself at the memories, Naruto remembered how possessive his Onee-san had behaved whenever he had a girl over. It was almost as if she thought one of them was going to try and take him away from her or something. The very thought of such a thing ever happening amused him greatly.

Sighing softly, Naruto turned his attention back to the front of the classroom as he tried to figure out what they were discussing today. _The Kyuubi attack today, hm? Wonderful._ Naruto groaned and laid his head upon the desk before him, but not before catching the look in Mizuki's eyes. Tilting his head slightly, the young blonde boy tried to figure out what that look could mean, but the moment the silver-haired Chunin turned his gaze elsewhere, Naruto simply shrugged and continued listening to the lecture, although he happened to know this particular lesson in _great_ detail.

As the lecture went on, the young Uzumaki glanced around and managed to catch several people glancing his way. A vast majority of the younger generation didn't know that he had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him, and those that did never revealed the secret to anybody else. Receiving knowing looks from some of his friends, including the two beside him, Naruto smiled slightly and nodded his head reassuringly that he would be all right. However, throughout the rest of the day he didn't offer to answer any questions as he oftentimes did, and he didn't really participate all that much in the class discussion either.

_**Graduation Day – Another 1 ½ years later**_

Virtually all of the students had passed so far, but Naruto had been waiting almost all day just for his chance to take the Genin test and earn his damned hitai-ate (Forehead Protector) already! Grumbling as his impatience began to get the better of him, the 12 year-old blonde wrapped his knuckles repetitively against the desk, much to the annoyance of his best friend Shika who was currently sitting beside him.

Feeling a hand atop his, Naruto turned to his other side and saw Ino smiling at him. "Calm down Naruto-kun. Just be patient a little while longer. I bet they're just saving the best for last." Winking at him as she knew that would be what did the trick, Ino sat beside him and waited for their names to be called right alongside him. Shikamaru breathed a heavy sigh and thanked Ino for her help wordlessly before he heard his name called and he walked down to take the test.

While Shikamaru was doing this, Naruto smiled at Ino and gently grasped her hand. "Thanks Ino-chan. I'm just…anxious today for some reason. Well, there are a few reasons, but one of them has me a little nervous I guess." The young man explained. Ino nodded at him to continue as she looked at him with concerned eyes. "Well, the first reason is one you all should know really well by now: Naruko-onee-san. She's counting on me to pass the test with all of you so we can work towards our goals together. The second reason is I really, _really_ want to pass at the top of the class. I don't want to let my Kaa-san down. But the final reason? That's what I don't understand. I just have this really bad feeling like something's going to happen today and I really just don't know what to expect. Weird huh?"

Ino frowned and gently squeezed his hands with both of hers. "It's okay Naruto-kun. First of all, you're already the top of the class. All you have to do is pass the tests given to you today and you'll very likely receive the Rookie of the Year title. So that's essentially killing two birds with one stone right there, right?" At seeing him nod, Ino smiled softly at him and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "As for something bad happening…I really hope you're wrong. But I trust you. I'm sure that if something happens, everything will turn out all right in the end."

Naruto chuckled softly at this and nodded at his friend. "You're right Ino-chan. Thank you. Now, your name was just called so go down there and show them what you can do. You'll pass easy Ino-chan." Grinning his usual foxy grin at her, Naruto gave her a soft kiss on the cheek as well and sent her off.

One thing to note is that the crushes Ino and Sakura had developed on him throughout the years had only increased as time went by. Naruko never seemed very happy when they were around him when she was in his company, but she had never actually said anything to actually prove she had a problem with them in particular. Naruto and his friends just assumed it was an overprotective sister thing that she did.

Regardless of his sister's behavior, Naruto had been on a few dates with both girls. It was certainly an odd circumstance for him to have _two_ girlfriends, but they were both so great to him and they were the ones who actually came up with the idea to share him in the first place! However, they hadn't actually kissed him yet. Sure, the two of them would kiss his cheek and cuddle with him on the grass from time to time, but they hadn't actually felt his lips pressed to theirs yet. The warm embraces, the flirting, the kisses on the nose, and more that he did were always welcomed though.

Naruto was soon thrust from his thoughts however as he heard his name called. Walking down to the front of the class, the young blonde listened to the instructions and nodded his head calmly. "All right, I getcha. First: **Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique)**!" Naroto shouted. As soon as he smoke cleared, in his place was standing a perfect likeness of his father, the Yondaime Hokage. As soon as Iruka-sensei nodded, Naruto released the jutsu and prepared for the next jutsu in line. Smirking at what he was about to pull, Naruto shot a quick glance out of the corner of his eye at his target. _Oh Sasuke-teme, hope you're ready for a real shock._ Snickering to himself, the young blonde quickly went through the hand seals for the jutsu and shouted out, "**Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)**!"

In an instant, Naruto had switched places with Sasuke and dropped him right on the floor in front of Iruka. The shocked look on Sasuke's face was priceless and caused the young blonde to howl in laughter for a time before switching places once more and putting Sasuke back in his seat. "That'll teach you to pay more attention next time Teme!" When Sasuke simply snarled angrily at him, Naruto shook his head and listened to the last request. The Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone Technique). This was one Naruto had originally been dreading, but with help from his mother and sister, the young man was ready for this one.

Calmly nodding his head, Naruto looked up into Iruka's eyes as he performed the cross-shaped hand seal and shouted out, "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)**!" In an instant, thirty Shadow Clones were spread throughout the classroom and each one began doing something different. Some of the clones began to talk with some of his friends, others were balancing kunai on their fingers, and still others were just grinning happily for some reason. Glancing at the faces of his senseis, Naruto tried to gauge their reactions as he dispelled all of his clones.

Iruka's jaw was practically hanging on the floor while Mizuki snapped a pencil in rage. "So…do I pass Iruka-sensei? Mizuki-sensei?" Mizuki grew a devilish smirk, but before he could say anything, Iruka interrupted. "Y-Yes Naruto-kun, you pass. That's incredible. For a child your age to perform such a high-ranked jutsu and then to create that many clones and still have the strength to stand, even after dispelling them…I'm impressed! Very well done! Here you go Naruto-kun! Congratulations!" Iruka proclaimed excitedly as he proudly handed Naruto his hitai-ate.

As Naruto walked off to join his friends, Mizuki was _fuming_ inside. _Dammit! That little brat just has to screw with all my plans doesn't he! I guess I'll have to get a little…creative._ Smirking to himself, Mizuki continued to test the others with his 'friend' Iruka as he went over how he would use little Naruto later tonight.

_**Nighttime, Forest surrounding Konoha**_

Naruto clutched the Fūin no Sho (Scroll of Seals) in his arms and chuckled softly to himself as he landed in the designated meeting spot that Mizuki had informed him about. The young Uzumaki knew this was a trap, but he also wanted to use this moment to capture Mizuki before he could cause any real harm to the village. Still, that didn't stop him from taking a look through the scroll and copying everything on it into a blank scroll of his own for later perusal.

A short time later, after he managed to fully copy the Fūin no Sho, Naruto rolled it back up again and glanced to the side as his sensei, Iruka Umino, hopped into the small clearing. Deciding to play dumb and feed Iruka the crap Mizuki had fed him, Naruto quickly regaled him with everything Mizuki had said. Iruka listened intently as Naruto explained how Mizuki said that if he stole the Fūin no Sho and learned at least a single jutsu from it that he would get to be on a team with Naruko. Naruto proceeded to explain that he had been instructed to meet in this spot after he had stolen the scroll and learned what he could so that Mizuki could 'evaluate his progress' personally.

After Naruto had finished, Iruka smirked and shook his head. "And you expect me to think you actually fell for that Naruto? What are you really planning?" Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, you caught me Iruka-sensei. I'd tell you, but I think you're actually about to find out what I'm up to in three…two…one…"

"Ahhh, Naruto, so good of you to bring me the scroll. I see Iruka's here. Tell me Naruto, did you read the scroll as I instructed?" Naruto smirked and nodded his head. "I skimmed through it, yeah. However, you're not getting this thing Mizuki-teme. Y'see, I knew you were up to something so I decided to play along so I could get you alone and deal with you personally. I caught the looks you kept giving me in class. I also realized quickly today that you were up to no good. As a favor to my Tou-san and my Jiji, I'm going to take you down and do my duty as a Genin of Konohagakure and keep the village safe from scumbags like you!"

Mizuki began to cackle madly and shook his head from left to right. "You always were a clever little runt Gaki. No matter, I'm going to kill you and Iruka here. Then I'll grab my prize and be on my way. Somebody's expecting me after all." Smirking, Mizuki took hold of his Fūma Shuriken (Wind Demon Shuriken) and prepared to fight. However, he froze seconds later when the little blonde kid began to laugh hysterically. Angered by this, he jumped down and glared at the kid. "What the hell is so damn funny Punk?!"

Naruto laughed harder at this and spread his arms in a wide motion. "Did you really think I wouldn't have prepared myself for your arrival Mizuki-teme? After what you saw earlier today, you had to have realized I would have set up a special 'ambush' for you right?" Seeing Mizuki's eyes widen, the Uzumaki facepalmed and shook his head as he drew his blade. "You are such a fool Teme. All right boys, ATTACK!"

For a good while, all that could be heard throughout the forest was Mizuki's screams as hundreds of Shadow Clones attacked him relentlessly until he was lying upon the forest floor in a broken heap. Kneeling beside him with his sword embedded in the man's shoulder, Naruto smirked devilishly. "You lose Teme." It didn't take much longer after that for his Jiji and his ANBU guards to show up and take Mizuki and the scroll from him.

After being thanked for a job well done, the Hokage let Naruto go on his way as he was rather eager to get back home to his Kaa-san. However, before he left, Iruka grabbed hold of his shoulder and smiled proudly at him. "I just wanted to remind you to come to the academy tomorrow for team placements. Thanks for going out of the way to keep the village safe Naruto-kun. I'll make sure to treat you to ramen tomorrow. Now go on, go see your mom." With a nod of his head and a "Thanks Iruka-sensei!" from the blonde tyke, Naruto soon shot off on his way back home with another devilish little smirk on his face. _I'm going to have fun learning the jutsu in that scroll._

**A/N: As you can see, I chose to start a second story. Last night I had an idea for another story I could begin working on and after tweaking the idea a bit, I came up with this. I will focus primarily on The Rise of Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze for the most part, but I will work on updating this story as frequently as I can as well. For now, until I get to work on Chapter 9 of my other fic, I hope this will tide you over.**

**Now for some extra information regarding this particular fanfiction. Naruto and Naruko will end up together, and yes, I made her her own unique character without the whiskers and having the same hair color as her mother. Yes, he's seeing both Sakura and Ino at the moment and he'll probably continue to see them as the story goes along. Something may happen to change that, but I highly doubt it. It really depends on where my mind takes things from here. Will there be more than those three girls? I honestly can't say as even I don't know, but I kind of doubt it to be perfectly honest with all of you.**

**As I've mentioned in RoNUN numerous times already, feel free to suggest things you'd like to see. I do hope you all like this story as much as you've enjoyed RoNUN so far. Chapter 9 for that particular story will be coming along sometime within the next few days, I assure you. Hopefully. It was rough even trying to get this small chapter up for this story. While I am feeling better for the most part, I've had the worst damn migraine for so long now and I just can't get the damn thing to go away. Kind of puts a big hole in one's plans when they want to get something done y'know? Anywho, suggestions, Chapter 9 coming whenever I can get it done, yada yada, I'm out! lol.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – A Stranger's Visit, Team Placements, & Team 10's Test!**

When Naruto arrived at home, he found both Naruko and his mother, Kushina waiting for him with scowls on their faces. Staring at them in horror, he soon turned around to try and run away, but he found the way blocked by his mother as she closed the door. The angry redhead turned and began shoving him to the nearby couch until he fell into it. "Narutoooo. What the hell did you do this time?! I told you before not to play those silly pranks! Just because I did when I was younger doesn't mean that _you_ should! And besides, you had practically the whole village out hunting for you! Whatever you did must've been really, really bad this time!"

Naruto fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat as he looked everywhere but into his Kaa-san's eyes. "I-If…I tell you the truth, do you promise that you'll believe me?" The young blonde asked timidly as he began to poke his pointer fingers together. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw his Kaa-san nod with a sigh escaping her lips. "Mizuki-teme has been acting weird for a while. A-After graduating today, thanks for not _congratulating_ me on that by the way you meanies!" Sighing, he shook his head and decided to continue on. "Mizuki-teme approached me after class. That's…when he said some pretty suspicious things."

Naruko frowned at this and sat next to her brother, looking into his eyes curiously. "What'd he want Naruto-kun? He didn't hurt you did he?" She asked in the sweetest of tones as she squeezed his hands in hers. Her little brother smiled softly at her and shook his head. "No, he didn't hurt me, but he tried to trick me into doing something really bad for him."

Kushina sighed and poked him in the forehead. "Just spit it out already Naruto-kun. You don't want to keep your Kaa-san waiting now _do you_?" She asked as an evil smirk made its way upon her face. This effectively made the young blonde gulp nervously as he decided to spit it out, lest he suffer her wrath! "M-Mizuki-teme wanted me to steal the Fuin no Sho for him. He tried to convince me that if I did that then I would be able to be on a team with Naruko-onee-chan."

Naruko chuckled softly and shook her head. "As nice as that would be, it won't happen until we're at least Chunin Naruto-kun." His sister said with a small smile on her face. When he just looked at the two of them with a stern expression on his face, her eyes widened somewhat as she stared at him horrified. "Naruto…you didn't?!"

Naruto chuckled again and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I figured it was probably the easiest way to trap Mizuki-teme and prove he was a traitor. Sooo…I stole the scroll and went to the designated meeting spot. I set up a trap for him and waited. Iruka-sensei showed up and we talked for a bit…then Mizuki-teme came, said some crap, and I proceeded to beat the crap out of him. Jiji showed up with some of his guards shortly after and I gave him the scroll while Mizuki-teme was dragged off. So y'see, I didn't really do anything all that bad. I was actually doing what I could to help protect the village. You're…not mad at me are you?" He asked the two most important females in his life.

Naruko smiled softly and kissed his cheek before hugging him tight. "Why would I be mad at my cute little brother? You're awesome dattebane! You took down a Chunin that would've hurt you given the chance! I'm not happy you stole the scroll, but Hokage-sama forgave you and nobody's actually trying to do anything to you now, so I'm okay with it. How about you Kaa-chan?"

Kushina sighed and shook her head before bonking Naruto on the head somewhat roughly. "You baka! You couldn't have thought of some other way to trap him instead of pulling something reckless like that?! What if he had actually managed to take the scroll and escape from you?! What then dattebane?! Did you even think about that?" She lectured him with her voice raised high.

Naruto sighed and rubbed the top of his head, grumbling under his breath about his ungrateful, stupid Kaa-san. When she looked about ready to hit him again, he raised his hands up defensively and shook his head. "Gomenasai Kaa-san, but I had faith in my abilities. I…knew I couldn't lose to him. You and Onee-chan, Iruka-sensei, and others have all trained me and taught me so many things. I…thought you'd have more faith in me." Sulking somewhat, Naruto rose from his spot on the couch and brushed past her, slowly making his way to his room. Kushina didn't say anything to him, but she did shake her head and sigh in frustration.

While her son did have some points, she was also extremely worried about him. He could have been in some serious trouble and that worried her deeply. Despite being a Genin now, he was still her little musuko (son) and she loved him very dearly. In fact, she was still thankful to be alive. The Shinigami gave her a second chance to stay with and nurture her dear musuko into a fine young man. He was well on his way to becoming a great shinobi, but no matter what, she would always worry about him as any mother would. Just knowing the fact that he pulled such a dangerous stunt tonight just did not sit well with her.

Naruko looked between her Kaa-chan and her Otouto and frowned deeply. She wasn't sure what to say, nor was she sure what to do. She wanted to go comfort her dear otouto, but at the same time she didn't want to upset her Kaa-chan. Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't furious with her Kaa-chan at the moment. So as soon as she heard Naruto's door close, she rose and glared harshly at her Kaa-chan. "How could you do that Kaa-chan?! Naruto-kun did what he did for our sake just as well as for the village! He risked a lot with that plan of his just to bring a criminal to justice. You should be proud of him, not upset with him! Naruto-kun just…he just wants to make us proud of him. He wants to keep us safe. My otouto's a great guy Kaa-chan. He's one of my absolute best friends and you…you hurt him just now. I thought you were better than that." The young redhead lectured before rushing off to her room to cool down.

Kushina Uzumaki sighed and plopped herself down on the couch. She threw an arm over her eyes and took in a few deep breaths to calm herself. _Oh Minato-koi, I wish you were here. I'm trying my best, but I still make mistakes. I love our children so much, but I just…don't know what to do sometimes. Naruto-kun's so reckless sometimes and…and I just don't know what to do with him. And Naruko-chan is so upset with me right now. She's so close to her brother. In fact, she's insanely overprotective of him that she'll even snap at me if I hurt him in any way. I bet if anyone ever hurt him, she'd slam a Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere) so hard into that person's face she'd end up killing them._ Chuckling softly at her thoughts, Kushina felt a familiar presence and soon turned her gaze, freezing slightly at the sight she saw. "Shinigami-sama…"

The Shinigami nodded calmly and slowly took on a more 'normal' appearance. Despite generally being considered a God whose gender is unknown, though it could be said that the Shinigami had no true gender, this God generally chose to take on the shape of a female Human dressed in a rather fancy gray kimono with silver lining running around the edges and dark grayish red rose patterns adorning the majority of her kimono. With a sigh, she sat down beside Kushina and smiled softly at her. "Kushina, you need not worry so much for your son. I already gave you my word that day that I would watch over him, but I haven't really had to thus far. Your son is quite the interesting individual. I could sense something special about him the moment I saw him, but growing up without a family would have tormented him terribly. I took mercy on the boy, and to a lesser extent, you as well Kushina. Now, before I say anything more, do you remember our deal?"

The redhead sighed and nodded her head slowly. "Y-Yes Shinigami-sama. I remember. I assume you are here to take what you want now?" The female Shinigami simply giggled softly and shook her head. "No, no my dear Kushina-san. When I am needed, only then will I reveal myself to your son. In the meantime, I am more than content to let you watch over him and tend to his needs. However, when I do reveal myself to him, I will leave the choice up to him. Despite being a God, I do not wish to force my will on your son. Naruto-kun is a good boy, and it just wouldn't do to go bothering him with this too soon. I simply wanted to check on things and tell you to buck up. Your children don't hate you and you've done a fantastic job thus far of watching over your children. I already promised that your family's souls will be safe until I deem that it is time for me to reap them from you. Now, go get some sleep. I have some business to take care of. Take care Kushina-san." With that, the Shinigami took on her usual visage and disappeared, leaving Kushina to stare blankly at where she had just been mere moments before. _I will _never_ get used to that. Just appearing whenever the hell she wants out of thin air…gah! Who does she think she is? I still don't know why she took such an interest in my precious musuko. Please be safe Naruto-kun. I don't want you to have to meet her too soon…_

_**The Next Morning**_

As Naruto stepped into the kitchen the next morning to get himself some food, he saw his Kaa-san standing there. Upon noticing her, the youngling lowered his head and sighed softly. "H-Hi Kaa-san. Good morning. I'll eat breakfast and go." As he tried to step by her, Kushina placed a hand upon his shoulder and stopped him. Flinching under her touch, he looked up only to see her bring him into a gentle embrace. "K-Kaa-san?"

"Gomenasai Naruto-kun. I am proud of you. I always have been. But a mother will always worry about her children. Do you understand Musuko?" When he simply nodded slowly and sniffled a bit, she smiled softly and gently wiped away his tears. "Now, don't you remember when I promised that if you graduated in the top three of the class that I would give you a sword of your choosing? Well…a 'friend' you haven't met yet wanted me to give you this as well. She said it's for 'going the extra mile' and making her proud. So…here Musuko."

Naruto watched curiously as Kushina unstrapped a sword from her side and placed it into her musuko's hands. "She called it Shi no Tacchi (Death's Touch). She said that she would teach you more about this sword at a later time, so for now stick with your current sword alright Musuko?" Seeing him nod as he strapped the medium-length sword to his side, Kushina smiled and kissed his forehead. "Now, while you're out today, I want you to think on what kind of sword you'd like me to get you. We can either have it custom-made or we can purchase one. I'll take you to the store later, okay Musuko?" Seeing him nod once again, the redheaded mother gently patted him atop his head and went to cook him a healthy breakfast.

_**Later at the Academy**_

As Naruto stepped into the classroom, his thoughts were split between three different things. The first two of these things tied in with what his Kaa-san said earlier. First, he couldn't stop thinking about the new sword he was given. He kept wondering who his Kaa-san's friend could be and why she was so interested in him and his progress. Aside from that, young Naruto couldn't help but imagine all the different kinds of swords there were and what he'd like. At the moment, he couldn't truly decide on anything. Figuring it would be best to simply check out the weapon store first, he put that particular topic of thought aside for now.

Moving to sit between his girls, Naruto leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling. "Sakura-chan, Ino-chan? Do you think we'll get to be on a team together?" They looked at him curiously for a moment before both nodded and smiled at him. "All we can really do is hope Naruto-kun. We'd both love to be with you on a team together, but there's also the possibility that neither of us will get to be with you Naruto-kun. Whatever happens, I'm sure we'll be okay. If, by some serious stroke of bad luck, neither of us gets to be on a team together and we're all separated, then we'll have to try and make time to meet up and spend time together when we can. So don't worry too much, okay?" Ino said before she leaned on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "I'm sure it'll all work out just fine."

Sakura nodded in agreement and smiled as she gently squeezed Naruto's hand in hers. As she went to say something, she noticed something new and smiled. "Is that the sword your mom promised you Naruto-kun?" Naruto noticed her gaze and shook his head, smiling softly at her. "No, this is a gift from somebody else. Kaa-san says a friend wanted her to give this sword to me. Apparently it's called Shi no Tacchi, but I don't know much about it yet. I've tried to draw it from its sheathe a few times, but it just won't come out. Kaa-san said that her friend will teach me about the sword later sometime, but I don't know when that'll be."

Both of his girls looked at him for a moment and then stared at his sword. "That's…really odd Naruto-kun. How are you supposed to be able to use that sword if you can't even draw it from its sheathe?" Sakura asked as she looked into her boyfriend's eyes. Chuckling, the blonde just shook his head and shrugged. "I honestly don't know. It might let me draw it in times of battle, but I really can't be sure. We can talk about it more later, Iruka's just arrived." Nodding his head to the door, Sakura and Ino both turned to see Iruka walking through the open door to his desk. Nodding their heads, they clung to their boyfriend and waited to hear who would be on whose team.

Iruka glanced towards Naruto and nodded at him with a smile before he took his seat and breathed a deep sigh. _It's still a little hard to believe all of what happened last night. I'm glad it all worked out in the end._ Taking a deep breath, Iruka demanded that his class be quiet and he began to give his speech about how he was proud of each and every one of them and how he wished them the best of luck in their careers. Upon finishing, he nodded his head and began to announce the teams.

_**A short time later…**_

Teams 1 through 6 had been called thus far and Naruto found himself yawning by now. He and Shikamaru both were in the same position with their heads laid upon their arms which were folded on the desks before them both. The two of them had their eyes closed, but neither of them was actually asleep. They were simply waiting as patiently as they could, though with as bored as they both were, they barely managed to catch it when Iruka began to announce the next team.

"Team 7 will be Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Shikamaru Nara. Your sensei shall be Kakashi Hatake. I wish you the best of luck with that one." Chuckling to himself, Iruka was about to list off the next team when he heard two heads hitting their desks with a loud 'thunk!' Looking back up, he saw both Sakura Haruno and Shikamaru Nara groaning and complaining.

"No…why him? Why do I have to be on a team with that jerk?" Sakura complained quietly as she felt Naruto massaging her shoulders. Lifting herself, she clung to him and laid her head back against his chest. "Shika and I might just end up killing that guy Naru-kun! This sucks." Naruto chuckled softly and just ran his fingers through her beautiful pink hair. "You'll be fine. And even though I'm certain that Uchiha's probably gay or something, I want you to make me a promise. If for some reason he ever hits on you…let me know so I can cut off his balls?" Sakura laughed and nodded her head. "Definitely Naru-kun!"

Shikamaru on the other hand just looked at Sasuke and grumbled. "Sakura I'm fine with, but Mister Arrogant? Does anyone really want to be on a team with this guy?" Choji chuckled and patted his back. "You'll be all right buddy. Sakura and you can handle it. Just try not to murder him too badly later, okay?" Shikamaru chuckled to himself and shook his head. "Nah, it'd be far too troublesome to hide the body. Worse than that would be trying to deal with the council after it was done with." Smirking, he glanced into Choji's eyes and they shared a small laugh together.

Iruka shook his head and chuckled at his students for a bit before continuing on. "Team 8 is Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, and Ino Yamanaka. Your sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi." _An Ice Queen, and yet quite the beautiful woman. I'm not sure whether to be happy for you three or worried._ The Chunin thought to himself quietly.

Ino pouted and clung to her Naru-kun. "I know what I said before…but this sucks Naru-kun! I was really hoping we'd be on a team together." Naruto laughed lightly before kissing her sweetly to calm her down. "It will be all right Ino-chan, I promise. How about we all meet up for dinner later after we've met our senseis, settled into things, and whatever else we're supposed to do? I'll pay while you two decide where to go." When Ino kissed him and agreed with that idea, he smiled and listened for Iruka to call the rest of the teams.

"…Team 10 is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, Shino Aburame, and Choji Akimichi. Your sensei is Asuma Sarutobi." _Well that's certainly an interesting team. I wonder how these teams were decided. They must have been picked this way for some reason._ With a shrug of his shoulders, Iruka Umino nodded his head and went on announcing the rest of the teams and giving a few finishing words before he sat down and started taking care of a little more paperwork.

_**Half an Hour later**_

Naruto was busy chatting away with his two girlfriends when the door slid open again. Many of the teams had already gone, but Teams 7, 8, & 10 were still in the classroom. Glancing at the door, the teams watched as two individuals stepped into the classroom. One was a rather beautiful woman with beautiful crimson eyes and long black hair that looked to be as smooth as silk. The other was a man with a rather scraggly beard, dark eyes, and a lit cigarette in his mouth.

Naruto eyed the crimson-eyed beauty for a moment and grinned inwardly, not daring to show it on his features for fear of facing his girlfriends' wrath. _That woman is a BABE! Jiraiya would absolutely LOVE to see her._ Chuckling softly to himself, he nodded his head calmly. "I guess that's your sensei Ino-chan. And that must be my team's sensei: Asuma Sarutobi. I could do without the smoking habit, but I'm sure he's got some pretty good moves. Sakura-chan, we'll see you later." Kissing Sakura on the lips sweetly, he stood up with Ino and smiled as both Teams 8 and 10 were called.

_**At the Akimichi Family Restaurant – 10 Minutes later**_

"Choji. I swear every time I come here, I never, ever want to leave. Not only is the food delicious, but everything smells _amazing_." Naruto stated and Choji found himself grinning. Choji was seated next to their sensei in a booth while Naruto and Shino were sitting beside each other. Glancing at Shino, Naruto grinned a bit and poked his shoulder. "You know Shino, you _can_ talk to us. You don't have to be such a shy, quiet guy around us. We're going to make one awesome team, so be at least a _little_ excited? For once?"

Shino simply glanced at him and nodded before looking back at his menu. "I am glad to be on a team with you and Choji-san, but I must admit it is an…intriguing team. Tell me Asuma-sensei, was this team of your own choosing or were the teams specifically appointed by Hokage-sama?"

Asuma chuckled softly and shook his head. "Well Kakashi-san wanted Naruto there." Pointing his finger over at Naruto, Asuma found himself smirking. "I was originally going to go with Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji here, but Pops did present an interesting idea. While Kakashi could have easily helped further Naruto's Kenjutsu training, I can help in other areas that he is lacking in. Kakashi needs to be the one to train Sasuke because of the Sharingan, and he was given Shikamaru and Sakura for a few reasons, but let's not get into that. Ino was given to Kurenai for a reason as well."

Thinking for a moment, the Jonin lit another cigarette and took a puff before nodding his head. "I got you three for a few reasons. This is a very unique team, but it also has a lot of potential. Choji, with your clan's techniques and fighting style, you're bound to become quite the powerhouse. I plan to help you further your training with your Taijutsu, but I also plan to teach you a variety of jutsu to help out with whatever flaws we find. Shino, with your abilities you'll make an excellent information gatherer and tracker. Aside from that, you'll be useful for debilitating enemies or holding them long enough for these two to finish them off. So you're our basic support unit in a sense. And finally, Naruto…"

Glancing to the young blonde, the two of them grinned at each other. "Pops told me a bit about you and I read up on your file. You've been spending a lot of time with Shikamaru, and I've heard that the two of you have played a lot of shogi together over the years. No doubt you have helped each other come up with a variety of strategies for any number of situations. Besides that, you're a quick thinker, you plan ahead, you're quite skilled in Kenjutsu thanks to your mother's training, you know the Rasengan, you're learning the Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique), your Taijutsu style is unique seeing as how you and your sister have been perfecting it at every opportunity…in fact, I could go on and on. You're this team's all-rounder. You can work as our strategist at one moment, coming up with strategies based on information gathered, and you can switch to being a heavy brawler the next, working with Choji to take out our enemies with powerhouse techniques."

Taking another long drag of his cigarette, Asuma smiled at the lovely waitress when she approached and Team 10 quickly placed their orders and watched her leave with Asuma checking out her ass, much to Choji's displeasure. Shrugging his shoulders, the Sarutobi smirked at his team and nodded happily at each of them. "As I said, this team has amazing potential. Together I think we'll do great things. I'll put you through the 'survival test' tomorrow. For now, I want to just get to know my team and enjoy a good lunch with all of you. Sound good?"

All three Genin of Team 10 nodded their heads in response and the Jonin continued. "While we wait for our food, why don't' we go over our likes, dislikes, dreams, etc.? I'll start. The name's Asuma Sarutobi, good to meet the three of you." Inclining his head in a slight bow to the three of them, he soon continued. "I like shogi for one thing." Nodding his head at Naruto, the two found themselves grinning at each other again, a silent challenge being issued between the two of them in that moment. "I also like a variety of meats. Sausage, pork, whatever, I love it. The Akimichi's BBQ is fantastic too." Smirking happily at Choji, he patted the young lad on the shoulder and continued on. "And seeing as how we're all guys here and I feel like I can be honest with you three…I love women too. I actually kind of have a thing for Kurenai Yuhi as well, but don't go around telling anyone that." Seeing their smirks, he suddenly felt a bit worried about one of them in particular going off and telling the woman just that.

Groaning, he found himself wishing he could take back what he just said when he heard Naruto laughing at his expense. "Relax Asuma-sensei, we won't say anything. We're just messing with you." The blonde explained, still grinning that same ol' foxy grin of his. Asuma breathed a sigh of relief and nodded his head. "Finally, don't tell Kakashi this, but I'm a fan of Icha Icha as well. So is my Pops." Smirking at that, he looked at the three Genin and nodded again. "I dislike rude, disrespectful people, those who complain about my habits, and a variety of other things that aren't really worth mentioning right now. As for my dream? While some have questioned if I'd like to be like my Pops and take over the role of Hokage someday, it's just not for me. I think I'd like to get married and have some kids of my own or something. I'm still thinking on it." With a shrug, he patted Choji and nodded for him to go next.

"Well, my name is Choji Akimichi. I love food and I love my friends too. Shikamaru, Naruto, all of them. I dislike when people insult my family's cooking and I **hate** being called fat. Naruto sometimes jokes with me, but I know he respects me and doesn't mean anything by it, so he's one of the few who can actually get away with it from time to time, but I hate it when most people say it. I also dislike it when people insult my friends or try to hurt them. I guess my dream is to become a good clan head for my clan, but I still think there's something else I'd like to do too. I'm really still thinking on it right now." With a shrug of his shoulders, Choji just nodded and smiled at his friends while Shino was given the signal to go next.

Shino nodded calmly and looked at everyone for a moment before speaking. "My name is Shino Aburame. I like insects of all kinds. I also love my family, and I am fond of my friends. Naruto…befriended me some time ago and hasn't once insulted my family or our relationship with insects. If I remember correctly, you once said that you found us to be 'quite awesome, dattebayo'?" Naruto grinned and nodded at that while Shino cracked a rare smile before nodding and continuing on. "I dislike those who insult my family, and I dislike those who mistreat insects. There are many insects that actually benefit the world and don't mean harm to anyone or anything. My dream right now is to one day succeed my father as clan head. I would also like to see insects regarded better in society."

Asuma nodded at that and then turned to Naruto, waving his hand for the young blonde to speak up. Nodding his head eagerly in response, Naruto began. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze dattebayo. I like all kinds of things: Kenjutsu, swords, my Kaa-san and Onee-san, my girlfriends Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno, my friends, RAMEN! Umm…yeah, lots of things. I dislike being called 'demon' by the idiots that actually do." Narrowing his eyes at that, the blonde clenched his fists tight before sighing heavily and staring at the table. Gently folding his hands and resting them on his lap, Naruto went on. "I also dislike the time it takes for the water to boil when I'm cooking ramen. I hate it when people try to hurt my friends and family members. I also highly dislike Sasuke-teme." Snickering, he looked at Choji and nodded. "Poor Shikamaru and Sakura-chan are probably trying to tear his head off by now, huh Choji?" Choji laughed at that and nodded his head. "I bet that the two of them are going to be plotting his demise by the end of the week." Naruto laughed and shook his head. "I give it three days tops."

The Sarutobi shook his head and laughed as well. "Go on Naruto, finish up. Our food's on its way." Pointing his thumb over at the lovely waitress bringing them their food, Asuma smirked. "Okay, okay. My dream is to become Hokage dattebayo!" Grinning broadly, he watched as the waitress began to place their food before them. "I also want to prove that Kenjutsu isn't some worthless art. It's just as useful as Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Ninjutsu damn it. But…more than all of that, I really just want to make my family proud of me. Minato Namikaze, my father and our Yondaime Hokage…I want him to be smiling down on me and to be proud of me for everything I accomplish."

Asume smiled at that and nodded his head. "I think that's a good dream Naruto-kun. I hope I can help all three of you become great shinobi who become more than capable of achieving those goals of yours. Now, let's eat and then we can all leave and prepare for tomorrow." Nodding once more, the four of them went about eating their delectable-looking meals while conversing about different subjects the entire meal.

_**Later that Night – Uzumaki-Namikaze Estate**_

After returning home from his date with Sakura and Ino with a huge smile on his face, Naruto was met with the sight of his Kaa-san standing there staring at him with a grin. Blushing a bit under her gaze, the blonde rubbed the back of his head and smiled as he looked away. "Hey Kaa-san. Sorry I've been gone for so long. I…" As he thought back to the date, Naruto suddenly began to giggle. Kushina cocked an eyebrow as she stared at him and frowned. Upon noticing this, he quickly waved his hands to try and soothe her. "K-Kaa-san, we didn't actually do anything like _that_, I promise! They just kept…kissing me. And…they played with my whiskers a bit too. It tickled."

Kushina sighed and shook her head. _It's a good thing Naruko-chan's out on a mission right now or she'd be absolutely furious right now. She isn't happy that those two are stealing all of his attention away._ Chuckling to herself, the beautiful redhead walked over and gently grabbed her musuko's hand. "Tell me Musuko, have you decided upon what you would like your new sword to be?"

Naruto shook his head and smiled at his Kaa-san. "No, but I have decided that I would like to visit the weapon store with you tomorrow after we're done with team exercises or whatever. I want to check out the various swords there. I figure that something might jump out at me and sort of scream: "I'm the sword for you!"…y'know?" Kushina giggled cutely and nodded her head. "I think I understand Musuko. Now, why don't you sit down and tell me about your day?" And with that, Kushina led her son to the couch and sat him down with her as they began to go over the events of the day.

_**The Next Day – Noon – Team 10's Training Ground**_

When Asuma arrived at the training grounds, he was greeted to the sight of numerous potato chip bags scattered about the ground, Naruto sleeping with…an Icha Icha book covering his face, probably gifted to him by his godfather, and Shino was having a conversation with Choji about food of all things. It was an odd sight for him, but he soon found himself chuckling. "Choji, clean up your trash. After you're done we can start the test." Nodding with a "Yes Asuma-sensei!" Choji set off to work.

After a few short minutes of Choji picking up and properly discarding his trash, the Genin were seated before their sensei, simply waiting for him to explain the test they would have to face. Looking into each of his Genin's eyes, the kind-hearted Sarutobi nodded his head and closed his eyes after a time. "I can tell you're each skilled in your own unique areas. The first thing I'd like to do is test each of you individually. First up is you Choji." Standing up, Asuma walked a short distance away and from the group and raised a finger, moving it in a motion that says 'come here'.

Choji groaned and rose to his feet, following after Asuma. Standing a short distance from the Jonin, the young Akimichi heir nodded his head and prepared himself. Asuma turned around to face him and smiled kindly at his young Genin student. "Come at me with everything you have Choji-kun. I'll tell you when you can stop. Now, hajime!"

Choji nodded slowly and got into his family's Taijutsu stance before dashing forward and throwing a series of punches and kicks at the taller man, only to have each of his strikes blocked. Asuma soon struck out with a blindingly fast kick and sent Choji tumbling along the grassy ground. Quickly flipping himself back onto his feet, the young Akimichi frowned and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Okay, so that won't work. I wonder if that'll help any."

Asuma smirked as he watched his young Genin student go through two hand seals. _All right Choji, that's what I was waiting for. Show me the power of that technique. Then I can determine where to go from here._

Choji shouted out, "**Baika no Jutsu (Multi-Size Technique)**!" and smiled as his body expanded until he looked like a giant, round ball. Within seconds after that, he shouted once more. "**Nikudan Sensha (Human Bullet Tank)**!" The extended body parts were instantly sucked into the ball that was now Choji. Asuma smirked at this and watched as the young Genin rolled towards him at a rather incredible speed. "Hmm, not bad Choji-kun. Let's see what you can do with this technique."

For a few moments, Asuma dodged out of the way, only to find that the Akimichi heir was able to turn himself around and continue with the rather unique Taijutsu attack. _Impressive. It's not easy for one to turn when using that kind of attack. You must have been working with your friends on this, huh Choji-kun?_ Smirking to himself, the Sarutobi stopped and began going through hand seals. "Let's see how you handle this! **Futon: Hageshii Kazeno Kabe (Wind Release: Violent Wind Wall)**!" Slamming his hands to the ground at his feet, everyone was stunned to see a visible wall of wind erupt in front of their sensei.

Choji hit it at full force and, not surprisingly, was soon thrown back, his jutsu cancelled. Screaming out in pain as various minor cuts appeared all over his body, the young Akimichi hit the ground before his friends and struggled as he tried to stand. Asuma soon appeared beside him and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Relax Choji-kun. You did well. You actually managed to avoid most of the damage that jutsu could have caused. I'm proud of you. Now take a rest. Shino-kun, you're up next."

As Shino and Asuma walked away to begin their spar, Choji sat beside Naruto and rubbed at some of his wounds. "They might not look like much, but these cuts hurt like hell. If I hadn't tried to match the rotation of the wind at least somewhat, I'm sure the damage would have been much worse. I got lucky." Naruto grinned and patted him on the same shoulder Asuma had just seconds before. "You did great Choji! Don't feel bad okay? I'm sure you'll be feeling better later. Just in case though, we'll take a trip to the hospital and have some of the medic nin take a look at you. Sound good?" Choji nodded and thanked his friend as they turned to watch Shino's match.

Shino and Asuma bowed to each other before the bug user began to look over his opponent. _From that last attack in the spar with Choji, it's probably safe to assume that he's a Futon specialist. But it's also certain he hasn't shown us anything yet that even comes close to what he's truly capable of. It might be dangerous to send my bugs in, but at this point it's the best move I've got. Hopefully I'll be able to come up with something to help me at least hit him once._

Asuma smiled softly as he eyed Shino up and down for a moment. _As I expected. He's analyzing me, trying to come up with an initial plan of attack. Shino's the type to think things through first, then make his move. If I had to guess, he's most likely the kind to trap his opponents using a superior strategy, quite similar to the Nara's. All right, let's start this and see what he can do._ "All right Shino-kun, hajime!"

In an instant, the Jonin Sarutobi was targeted from both sides by Shino's kikaichū (Parasitic Destruction Insects). Smirking to himself, Asuma went through another set of hand seals and extended his arms to his sides, palms facing the insects. "**Futon: Hogo Fuu Daama (Wind Release: Protective Wind Sphere)**!" Within seconds he was surrounded by a sphere made of pure wind, the insects that had attacked him being shredded upon touching the jutsu while others were sent off course by the powerful winds.

Shino frowned and called back his kikaichū. _Damn. That's what I thought. With these wind techniques of his, it's going to be hard to even approach him. Alright, what do I do in this situation?_ Taking a moment to think on things a moment, Shino soon came up with an idea. "All right. Let's try this then." Raising his hands, the Aburame sent out a large number of his kikaichū and shouted the name of an attack he just thought up. "**Kixyodaina Konchuuhanmaa (Giant Insect Hammer)**!"

In a matter of seconds, all of the insects took the shape of a giant hammer floating over Asuma's head. The Jonin looked up curiously and frowned. _What's he doing now? Why would he try that?_ A sudden look of realization dawned on his face and he quickly poured more chakra into his technique to prepare himself. Within seconds the hammer slammed down atop his jutsu and the Jonin found himself sinking into the ground, a crater forming around him. "Nngh! That was mighty clever of you Shino-kun. Quick thinking on your part. Combining them together and enforcing them with your chakra to increase the pressure of the attack _and_ keep them safe…very good. Call it off; I've seen all I needed to see."

Shino soon stopped the attack and recalled his insects. Nodding at his sensei, Shino returned to his teammates and sat between them. Asuma looked to them and grunted a bit as he pulled himself out of the crater. "That's not a technique I've seen used before. Therefore, is it safe to assume that you just made that up?" The Aburame nodded slowly and decided to listen to his sensei's input. "It was clever, but it needs refining. With your ingenuity, I'm sure we can come up with many more techniques for you to use in the future. You'll have plenty of opportunities to practice your techniques and I can even help teach you a few other things that will help with your attack style. Now, Naruto, you're up."

Nodding, the blonde boy stepped up and walked away from his friends. Stopping a short distance from his sensei, he bowed low to him before getting into his own, unique Taijutsu stance. "So, going to start off with Taijutsu eh? Alright Naruto, show me what you've got. Hajime!" And with that, Naruto was off. Moving quicker than Choji had, the blonde threw punches and kicks as fast as he could, all of them either being blocked or dodged by the Jonin sensei.

Seeing that his attacks weren't connecting, Naruto flipped backwards out of the way before Asuma could strike him with a punch. Smirking to himself as he decided to try something a little different, he put his fingers into the familiar cross shape. "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!" In an instant, five Naruto clones appeared and all six Naruto's had the Jonin surrounded. Soon, each of them was coordinating their attacks as they continued with a Taijutsu assault.

After some time and some very close calls, the Jonin Sarutobi kicked it up a notch and dispatched all of Naruto's clones before kicking him off to the side before he slammed into a tree fairly hard. Looking at him, he watched as the blonde Uzumaki-Namikaze rose to his feet and took hold of his first sword. "All right, I guess it's time to test your Kenjutsu next. Sounds good to me." Taking hold of his Chakura Tō (Chakra Blades), the wind user poured his wind-natured chakra into the blades and prepared for the next phase of Naruto's test.

Sighing to himself, Naruto glowered at his sensei. "Shoulda known you've have something else up your sleeve Asuma-sensei. You're not going to make this easy for me in the least, are you?" Seeing Asuma smile at him, the blonde nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "Ah well, what's the fun unless I can see the true difference between our abilities? I want to see how far I have to go after all. Obviously I don't match up yet in Taijutsu, so it's time to see how my Kenjutus fares!" Flipping his sword around and holding it at his side with the blade pointed behind him at the ground, Naruto began to pour his chakra into the blade before he blurred out of sight.

Asuma's eyes widened a bit as he watched Naruto move. Raising up one of his chakra blades, he blocked Naruto's blade only to wince as he shouted out a Kenjutsu technique. "**Shougekiha Surasshu (Shockwave Slash)**!" As soon as he applied more chakra through his blade, the Jonin was sent flying back due to a powerful shockwave that was shot forth from the underside of the blade. Flipping through the air, Asuma landed down and huffed for a moment before he began to chuckle. "I have to admit Naruto-kun, you caught me off guard with that one. Very good. Now let me show you a trick of mine."

With a smirk, Asuma pumped more of his chakra into his blades and shunshined closer to Naruto. The young man blocked the blades a few times, but soon found his sword flying out of his hands due to an attack he couldn't see. Before Naruto could do anything in response, Asuma shouted out and began his next attack. "**Senkō Jūjiki (Flash Cross Sever)**!" In an instant, it was over. After a quick series of punches, Asuma slashed his blades in the air before Naruto and blasted him with cross-shaped wind chakra. "I took it easy on you there Naruto. If I had wanted to, you would've been dead right now."

Watching as Naruto struggled in an attempt to rise, Asuma walked over and slipped his blades away before offering him a hand. "That's enough for now Naruto. Come, let us retrieve your sword and then we'll begin the next stage of the survival test." The blonde nodded his head and sighed sadly. "That attack…you chose to use the wind rather than your blades at the end. It's true what you said. If you had wanted to, you could have killed me easily. I still have a long, long way to go."

Asuma frowned at him as he picked up and handed the boy his sword. "You shouldn't act so down Naruto-kun. You did well. Really well. In fact, all three of you did great. So buck up, take a moment to relax, and I'll go over the details of the next part of the test." As Naruto sheathed his sword and sat beside his friends again, the three looked at each other and then back at their sensei to hear what came next.

Looking over the three of them, Asuma grinned and patted himself down, trying to get rid of all the dirt that had accumulated on his clothing. "Well, now that I've had the opportunity to test your individual abilities, I want to see how well you work together as a team. Before I arrived, I set up a series of small tests for you in the surrounding area. You are to collect three scrolls. However, each of these scrolls is in a different location, and each one will require teamwork to retrieve. You'll understand more when you set out to find them. So, as I said, take a few minutes to collect yourselves. When you're ready, I want the three of you to set out and start hunting! Just make sure you're back before nightfall." Smirking, Asuma walked off and sat beneath a tree, bringing out a very familiar book.

_**Fifteen Minutes Later**_

After taking five minutes to rest, the three Genin of Team 10 were off on their hunt. After ten minutes, the three of them came across the first scroll, but what they saw had the eyebrows twitching dangerously of two of them. "How the hell does he expect us to cross that to get the scroll?!" Naruto shouted angrily before Shino placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

Shino smiled at him and nodded his head. "We're supposed to apply teamwork, remember? Now, there's explosive tags scattered about, tripwires on the ground, and there appears to be quicksand around the rock that the scroll is laying upon. I would send my kikaichū to get the scroll, but I have a feeling he prepared for that. We have some time, so let's think on this together." The three nodded in unison and sat down to discuss their strategy for gathering the first of the three scrolls.

After about half an hour, they finally had a plan, but it would require Choji and Shino to really push their limits. Choji breathed in deeply and let it out slowly after a moment before he went through a few hand seals and declared the name of his jutsu. "**Baika no Jutsu**!" Rather than turning himself into a ball once more, Choji used his jutsu to increase his overall size and stature until he was as tall as he could make himself. When he was done, he cursed. "Dammit, this is as tall as I can get guys. I'm trying, but it seems I still need some practice. Think you can work with this Shino-san?"

Shino and Naruto used their chakra to ascend their friend until they reached his shoulders. The Aburame looked about and nodded his head. "I can work with this. You aren't too far from the tops of the trees, so I shouldn't have to push myself too hard. Though…" Looking to Naruto, Shino nodded his head. "You're going to have to work fast. As soon as I start this, begin crossing the bridge I make and create all the Shadow Clones you think you'll need to get the scroll. We'll hold our techniques as long as we can."

Naruto nodded and watched as Shino went through a few hand seals before extending his hands. "**Konchuuno Hashi no Jutsu (Insect Bridge Technique)**!" For a short while, the insects formed a series of steps leading skywards. When they broached the treetops, they continued on horizontally, extending all the way to directly above the scroll. Pumping a continuous amount of chakra into his technique as a steady rate so as not to exhaust himself too quickly, Shino watched as Naruto dashed across the bridge until he was at the very end.

Quickly throwing his fingers into the familiar hand seal, Naruto shouted out his jutsu. "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!" Extending along the bridge, straining Shino just a bit more, appeared dozens of Shadow Clones. Quickly they all began forming a chain as Naruto held the feet of one shadow clone and lowered it over the edge of the bridge. Each Shadow Clone soon began to follow as they continued to form a longer chain. When the last was finally linked, a clone was hovering just above the scroll.

Reaching out with its hands, the clone swiped at the scroll a few times before snatching it and shouting upwards. "I've got the damn thing! Pull me up before the techniques collapse!" Slowly but surely, the clones hoisted themselves upwards until the scroll was resting in the real Naruto's hands. Dispelling his shadow clones, the blonde dashed across bridge of insects and jumped onto Choji's shoulders. "All right, we've got the damn thing. Take a few steps back and release your jutsu Choji!" Doing as he was told, Choji took a few gigantic steps backwards and everyone cancelled their jutsu with Shino recalling his insects.

When Choji released his jutsu, they all fell to the forest floor and breathed heavily for a time. "I think…he's trying…to kill us. If that was just the first scroll, what kinds of traps does he have laying in store for us next?" Choji questioned. Naruto shrugged and Shino shook his head. "I'm not sure, but I think it's safe to say that the rest of this test isn't going to be as easy as we'd originally hoped." Naruto and Choji instantly agreed before they set off in search of the second scroll.

_**Ten Minutes Later**_

The group of three Genin were currently staring up into the sky with curious expressions on their faces. "Okay…we're in the field again…how the hell is that thing actually _floating_ up there? Can your bugs detect anything Shino-san?" Naruto questioned as he glanced sideways at his bug-using friend. Shino held up his finger and looked at one of his kikaichū for a moment. Shaking his head, the Aburame frowned. "There's a Genjutsu scattered about the area. I didn't realize he could set something like this up."

Choji and Naruto both looked to him, both awaiting an explanation. Shino shook his head again and sighed. "We never left the forest. We've been wandering in circles for a short period of time it would seem. I'm actually amazed we didn't notice it before. Looking around, it seems we're surrounded by 'unfriendly critters' and…great, traps. From the looks of it, we've already stepped into the lions' den, so to speak."

Choji groaned while Naruto closed his eyes and nodded his head. "All right. Give me a second guys." Flaring his chakra, as well as some of the Kyuubi's own chakra, Naruto managed to dispel the Genjutsu surrounding them, but fell to his knees soon after. "Okay…that took a little more than I thought it would. Now let's see…" Raising his head, the blonde's eyes widened as numerous senbon came flying towards them. "Shit shit SHIIIT!"

Naruto quickly brought out his sword and disappeared from sight again, using another of his Kenjutsu techniques to deflect all of the senbon before they could reach them. When he settled down next to his friends again, he fell to his knees, gasping for breath. "Our sensei's insane!" Choji and Shino instantly nodded in agreement as they helped him to his feet. "Thanks for saving our butts Naruto. You sit and relax, we'll do what we can to get the scroll okay?" Naruto nodded and laid on the ground.

Shino looked at Choji and smiled again. "Choji-san, do you think you can use your Baika no Jutsu again to grab the scroll? Be careful when you go to grab it, there's a few more traps surrounding the scroll up there. Be quick, do what you can to avoid whatever trap you might end up springing, and get back down here. I'll do what I can to fend off the animals Asuma-sensei has unleashed here."

Choji nodded and quickly used his jutsu once again, increasing his height just enough so he was simply inches from the scroll. Glancing at the launcher traps attached to the strings that held the scroll in place, he groaned. Looking down at his feet, the Akimichi heir could see Shino draining some of the animals while striking down others with his Taijutsu attacks. Naruto was doing what he could to help, but he seemed to be in some pain still. _Damn it. Okay, think for a minute Choji. If you just grab it and release your jutsu, that might work. But…no, that would be too easy._

Glancing around, Choji grumbled when he spotted a few more launcher traps attached to some wires that he missed before. They were aimed directly at where his friends were currently fighting the beasts down below. _That's what I thought. They're at least within range, I could grab them from here, but what would happen?_ Thinking for a moment longer, the Akimichi grinned and reached out with both of his hands, quickly turning the senbon launchers to face the two that were connected to the clearly visible wire holding the scroll. Ducking down, he listened as hundreds of senbon shot forth from the launchers, striking the two launchers up above. What he _didn't_ expect was for three of the senbon to strike the wire holding the scroll, therefore sending the scroll plummeting to the ground below.

Quickly reaching out, the Akimichi heir grabbed it and released his jutsu. Upon returning to his normal size, Choji lashed out with a series of punches and kicks, rendering the rest of the beasts unconscious so that his friends/teammates could relax for a moment. Sitting down with them, he grinned and passed Shino the scroll. "That's two. Now, any idea where the third one is?"

_**35 Minutes Later**_

The three Genin groaned as they approached Asuma and saw the final scroll attached to his hip. "Why doesn't this surprise me? You had it sealed away earlier, didn't you Asuma-sensei? You were watching us, waiting for us to collect the other two before you pulled that one out. We could've been searching for hours if Shino's kikaichū hadn't spotted that scroll attached to your hip." Naruto stated as he watched the Sarutobi take a few puffs of his cigarette before exhaling a small cloud of smoke.

"You've done well so far. Now, can you utilize your teamwork in the state you're in to retrieve this final scroll? You have until 5:00 PM to take this scroll from me, otherwise you'll have failed this final test. You don't want to do that, now do you?" Smirking at his students, Asuma got into a Taijutsu stance and prepared himself for their assault.

Naruto sighed and shook his head before turning to his teammates. "5:00 PM huh? That gives us a total of 2.5 hours to take that scroll from him. That's awfully generous of him, but that also tells us something else. Asuma's going to take this seriously. That also means that we can expect to see some things he didn't show any of us before. And if I'm right and he's been watching us…" Sighing, Naruto lowered his head and brought a few fingers up to rub the bridge of his nose. "Damn it, he's been setting us up for this. All right, we need to think up some kind of strategy. I propose that we test him a bit first to see what he does. Make him use some of his techniques, then when we have enough data we can regroup and discuss another strategy. Don't expend too much of your chakra, but do what you can to make him use up as much of his chakra as we can. It will definitely help in the long run, I'm sure of it. Are we ready?"

Shino and Choji both nodded their heads and took different stances while Naruto took hold of his sword once again. "Alright Asuma-sensei, we've seen what you can do, now it's time to show you what _we're_ made of! En garde!" Pointing his sword out before him, Naruto pumped a small amount of chakra into his blade and dashed forward, nodding to his teammates for a moment before he reached Asuma and began to clash with him.

Shino watched as Choji dashed off to the side and prepared himself to attack Asuma as soon as an opportunity presented itself. Shino on the other hand sent a few of his bugs into the ground and ordered them to wait beneath the ground for a time. Meanwhile, he had some more of his bugs creep up behind Asuma and attempted to snatch the scroll from him while he was distracted with Naruto. Sadly, that plan was brought to an abrupt end as Team 10's sensei easily caught onto what they were doing and used another wind jutsu to repel the bugs and Naruto. Cursing under his breath, Shino watched as Choji began his assault while Naruto quickly rebounded and tried to assist his friend with more of his Kenjutsu.

Asuma smirked and kicked Choji underneath the chin before flipping away and pulling out his Chakura Tō, Asuma pumped some of his chakra into them again. However, instead of empowering them with wind-natured chakra, this time they were covered with fire-natured chakra. Blocking Naruto's initial strike, he quickly ducked under Naruto's kick, slashed clean through some more of Shino's bugs, then spun around and announced another attack. "**Katon: Hotaru Harikeen (Fire Release: Firefly Hurricane)**!" In an instant, a spiral tornado of fire sprung up around Asuma that sent Naruto spiraling backwards with Choji's fist being burnt by his attack. At the same time, Asuma lashed out with his blades and dealt a series of cuts and gashes to Naruto's body.

However, when Naruto landed, he quickly poofed into smoke. Cursing under his breath, Asuma quickly dispelled his jutsu and spun around, blocking another Kenjutsu strike from Naruto before he was sent skidding along the ground by another of his Shougekiha Surasshu attacks. Wincing as a few cuts appeared along both of his arms, Asuma slipped away his weapons and brought up his hands in an o shape around his mouth after performing a series of hand seals. "**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)**!"

Naruto cursed and was about to raise his blade in a feeble attempt to block when Choji tackled him out of the way and Shino surrounded the both of them in an insect barrier. The three of them could feel the heat of the attack from where they were and immediately regrouped, all three of them panting and all three of them feeling anxious. They looked at each other and nodded. "Okay, we've forced him to use up some of his chakra, and we've learned he's capable of Katon (Fire Release) jutsu as well. That's good. Very good." Naruto sheathed his sword and glanced over his shoulder at their sensei as he simply stood there, watching them with one of his eyebrows raised. It was obvious that he was curious as to what they could be planning this time.

Shino nodded his head at Naruto. "It's obvious that our sensei is just full of surprises. I sent some of my insects to wait underground, all we need is an opportunity to present itself and I can snatch the scroll from him, hopefully without him noticing my kikaichu before it's too late for him. Choji, Naruto, I have an idea that just might work."

Both of his teammates nodded and smirked. "Okay Shino-san, tell us what's up. You've obviously planned out pretty far ahead and we're down to 1.5 hours. I think we're open for pretty much anything by now." Nodding his head, Shino decided to relay his plan to his teammates. "Naruto, before I go on, how many Shadow Clones can you make?"

Naruto gripped his chin with one of his hands and stroked it softly for a moment. "With my remaining chakra and stamina, I could probably make about fifty. Why?" Shino nodded and smiled at that. "Good, that's very good. Now, if you pour about one quarter of your chakra into your technique, do you think you could create at least ten Shadow Clones?" Again, Naruto nodded and smiled at him. "You've obviously got something fun planned out. Tell me what's on your mind Shino-buddy."

Shino chuckled softly at that and nodded. "You and Choji are going to go in for another assault. However, I want you to gradually create ten Shadow Clones throughout the fight. Whenever you see an opportunity, send a Shadow Clone underground. Be sure to put enough chakra as you think is necessary into your clones, okay Naruto?" Receiving another nod, the bug user continued. "As soon as you have created ten Shadow Clones, I need you to relay some kind of signal to Choji. At that point Choji, you're going to do what you did earlier in your spar against Asuma-sensei. Use your Baika no Jutsu, then attack with Nikudan Sensha. You don't need to actually hit him, just force him into the center of the field. At this point, I want your clones to surround him, but they need to dispel themselves right as they move in for a strike. Understand Naruto-san?"

Naruto nodded and found himself grinning at this point. "I think I see where this is going. Go on Shino-kun, I'm anxious to see if I'm right. This sounds _fun_." Shino nodded again and reached out, patting his friends on their shoulders. "At that point, if my suspicions are correct, he'll be dazed for just long enough for the three of us to all attack at once. Use whatever techniques you two can think of to keep him off guard. While the smokescreen is still active and you two are attacking him with everything you have, my kikaichu will snatch the scroll off of his person and carry it underground right back to me. I'll shout out when I've got it. Understand?" When both of his teammates nodded with grins on their faces, the three of them turned to their sensei and smirked at him. "I apologize Asuma-sensei, but you're about to lose this 'game'." Shino stated in a matter-of-factly tone.

Asuma grinned at that. "Ah, is that so Shino-kun? Okay, then feel free to come at me with everything the three of you have. You've obviously come up with some kind of plan and you're confident that it will work, but I can tell you this: whatever you've just come up with, it won't be enough to get the scroll away from me." Smirking at them, he watched as both Choji and Naruto moved in to attack him yet again. _Come on Team 10, show me what you've got! I want the three of you to pass my test. I know you can do it!_

Naruto nodded at Choji and they quickly split up, moving to two different sides. The blonde quickly moved in, throwing a variety of punches and kicks, and each time Asuma would deflect him and force Naruto to flip away, the young Uzumaki-Namikaze would quickly create a Shadow Clone with a decent amount of chakra pumped into it and hid it just under the surface of the ground to hide away until it was time for it to makes its appearance. While he was doing this, Choji was doing an excellent job of keeping their sensei's attention off of him so Asuma wouldn't suspect anything strange was going on.

Shino was observing everything cautiously, occasionally sending in some of his bugs to attack, but only to keep Asuma from becoming too curious about their plan. After all, the success of this plan lay in the ability to keep him preoccupied with trying to defend himself and keeping him focused solely on defending himself. Whenever Asuma looked as if he was about to eliminate some of his bugs, he would quickly withdraw them and have them instead focus on protecting his allies or helping them back to their feet whenever they were knocked down.

As Choji moved in for another attack, he caught the briefest of glimpses of Naruto nodding ever so slightly at him. Without doing anything to give away that they were about to enact their plan, Choji threw a few more punches and kicks until Asuma picked him up and flung him over his shoulder to land beside Naruto once more. Flashing through a couple of hand seals, Choji shouted out once more. "**Baika no Jutsu**! **Nikudan Sensha**!" Expanding his body into a ball once more and immediately sucking in his protruding body parts, Choji began to chase Asuma around the field, gradually forcing him towards the center.

As soon as Naruto saw that their sensei was close enough and was preparing to use that wind wall jutsu of his to defend himself once more, the blonde Uzumaki-Namikaze gave a signal for his Shadow Clones to do their part. Asuma's eyes widened as the Shadow Clones appeared from virtually out of nowhere around him in a circle. As he quickly prepared to destroy them, his eyes widened further when they each poofed out on their own, enveloping him in smoke. _Clever. Very clever. Okay, if they want to play like that…_

Before Asuma could go through the hand seals necessary for a proper Futon (Wind Release) jutsu to clear the smoke away, he found himself blocking numerous attacks from Naruto and Choji once again. "Damn it, you three are doing better than I thought you would. I'm actually pretty impressed! However…" Knocking away both of his opponents, Asuma flashed through a series of hand seals as fast as he could. "**Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)**!"

As soon as the smoke was cleared, Asuma glanced around and quickly found himself dodging a strike from Choji and a Rasengan from Naruto. Flipping away, he quickly reached down to pull out his blades again when he noticed Shino out of the corner of his eye. Blinking a few times, the Jonin sensei reached down and patted the area where the scroll was _supposed_ to be strapped to. Eyes widening, he looked down and realized that they had actually managed to take it from him at some point during the fight. Realizing he had lost the match, Asuma began to laugh merrily.

The three Genin joined together once again and smirked at their Jonin sensei. When Asuma finally calmed down, he walked over to them and hugged the three of them tight against him. "You three are truly incredible. Very, VERY well done. Now, would you mind telling me how you pulled that off? I'm honestly very curious to know. I never even felt the scroll leaving me." With that, the three nodded their heads and began to regale their plan to him.

When they had finished revealing the plan they had come up with, Asuma barked out laughing again and nodded his head. "You three are truly incredible. Excellent teamwork. First, I would like to congratulate all three of you on passing the survival test. Before I say anything more, I want you three to take a look at those scrolls."

Curious, the three Genin each looked at the scrolls. What they saw caused their eyes to widen. "They…have our names on them. One for each of us." Asuma nodded at this and pointed at each of them in turn. "As I said before, I took the liberty of studying up on each of you. I want you three to study these scrolls whenever you can and practice the jutsu and chakra exercises listed in them whenever you find the time. I'm certain that they will benefit the three of you greatly. Now, to close things off, I would officially like to declare us Team 10. We will begin taking missions tomorrow. I would like us to focus on D-rank missions for now, although they may seem awfully boring for the most part. The reason I would like to focus on those missions to start off with is so that we can primarily focus on training until I feel we're ready for some tougher missions. If I had to guess, I'd say that in about two weeks we'll be ready to take on our first C-rank mission. The three of you are truly amazing. I can't wait to brag about you three to the others! Pops is going to be damn proud. Now, would any of you like me to treat you to dinner before you head on home to do whatever you want for the rest of the night?"

Choji and Shino nodded their heads, but Naruto shook his head in a negative fashion. "You three go on ahead. I'm going to meet up with Kaa-san in a bit. Naruko's back today as well and I'd like to see her before we start things off tomorrow. Besides, Kaa-san and I have plans. I'll see you three tomorrow. That was really fun Sensei! Take care!" And with that, Naruto was off on his way back home after a rather eventful day. _It's time for me to find a brand new sword! I can't wait!_ Not long after he disappeared, the other three left the training ground as well to go and get some dinner as an official team.

**A/N: I would like to apologize that it took so long to get this chapter up. It took me a couple of days to actually finish typing this chapter up as I'm STILL recovering from whatever the heck I got sick with so I've been sleeping that off. I also had to take some time to actually think a few things up for this chapter, but I believe it turned out REALLY well. I hope all of you really enjoy this chapter to its fullest. ^^ **

**Also, sorry if you don't like the new team setups, but I like to mix things up a bit. Hopefully you enjoy the team setup and approve. If not, oh well. *shrugs* I'm actually really proud of how this chapter turned out, especially the survival test that took up most of the chapter.**

**Again, if you have any suggestions or anything in particular you'd like to see, please feel free to PM me or leave a review with your suggestion. I'll get to work on Chapter 3 a little later. After that, I'll be working on Chapters 10 & 11 of Rise of Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. ^^ **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Naruto's New Swords & the Mission to Wave**

When the small young man arrived at home, he wrapped his knuckles on the door a few times until his kaa-san opened the door with a smile on her face. "Hey Kaa-san! Are you ready to go check out the weapon store?" Kushina giggled sweetly and nodded her head. "Of course Musuko. Do you want to get changed first?" When her musuko shook his head and simply grinned at her, the lovely redheaded mother simply giggled cutely and nodded her head. "I understand. Excited about your new sword, aren't you?" Once more he nodded. "All right, we'll get go…"

"Kaa-san, is Otouto home yet?! I want to go get ramen together like you promised we would!" The voice of Naruto's sister, Naruko carried throughout the house. Chuckling to themselves, both Kushina and Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze waved at the young lass as her eyes grew wide at the sight of her brother. Young Naruto soon found himself tackled to the ground and wrapped in the vice-like grip of his sister. "I've been waiting for hours! What took you so long?! Why do you look so beat up?! What the hell happened to you Naruto-kun?!"

Naruto found himself sweat dropping at his sister's behavior. After a moment, he gently wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close to him, her gradually developing breasts gently being crushed against his chest. "Onee-chan, it's okay. Choji, Shino and I passed Asuma-sensei's survival test. It was really tough, but he says we did really great. It was a really long test and, like I said, it was really, _realllly_ hard. We're officially Team 10 now and we'll begin training and taking missions tomorrow. Kaa-san and I were going to go check out the weapon shop when I got home, but right after we can go get ramen. Right Kaa-san?" Naruto looked towards his kaa-san and hoped she would back him up on this.

Kushina found herself laughing at the situation. Reaching down, she helped her musuko up and gently patted her musume (daughter) on her head as she rose as well. "I know you've missed each other, but you need to relax, both of you. Naruko-chan, I did promise Naruto-kun that we'd go and get him his new sword today, or at least go look for one. And yes Naruto-kun, we'll go and get as much ramen as the both of you want at Ichiraku Ramen immediately after, okay?" Both of her children nodded and she grinned at them as she shut the front door and locked up as they left. "However, when we get to Ichiraku Ramen, I want to hear all about this survival test Sarutobi-san put you through Musuko. I'm very curious as to why it was so hard for you, _my_ child, to deal with." Naruto found himself feeling suddenly nervous as he began to feel that he had somehow let his kaa-san down. If that had happened, his training would become even more frightening!

_**Twelve Minutes Later – Weapon Shop**_

"See anything yet Musuko? How about you Naruko-chan? If you see anything you want, just let me know, okay Sweetie?" Kushina smiled at her children and watched as they both shook their heads in a negative fashion. "We're still looking Kaa-san/Kaa-chan." The Uzumaki woman nodded her head in understanding and simply walked alongside her children, watching the both of them closely.

After some time, Naruko actually found something that she actually seemed to like: a pair of small, curved daggers that seemed to radiate some kind of strange energy to her. Upon first glance they didn't really appear very special, but as soon as she took them into her hands, she felt almost as if they just _belonged_ with her. Twirling them around a few times, she began to understand why they were radiating such energy before. These two daggers were made of a special metal that worked with chakra molding much easier than most other types, but it was also just a tad heavier than other metals.

Deciding to test the daggers for a moment, the young redhead pumped a small amount of water-nature chakra into the daggers and watched as they were instantly coated with the chakra. Focusing further, she attempted to mold the chakra into the shape of a hook, and then tried to extend it so that they appeared to be a couple of swords made of pure water. Test after test finally confirmed their usefulness to her and she grinned before turning to her kaa-chan. "Kaa-chan, I've found what I want! I'll take these daggers. I also need to pick up a couple sets of shuriken and another set of kunai. I can pick up some more paper later and work on making homemade explosive tags during my free time. It's definitely cheaper than just buying a bunch of the crummy kind they sell in stores."

Kushina laughed a moment and nodded her head. "Go on and get what you need. Naruto-kun and I will be with you as soon as he's made his choice." Smiling at her daughter, the beautiful Uzumaki watched as she hugged her otouto and rushed off. Looking back down to her musuko, Kushina continued to watch him and wait for him to find anything that might jump out at him.

A short matter of minutes later, Naruto suddenly stopped and looked back as he heard some humming coming from around a corner. Curious, the young boy released his kaa-san's hand and walked off to investigate. The sight he came upon brought a smile to the young man's face. Standing before him was a girl that appeared to be around his age, maybe a year older or younger, he couldn't quite be sure. What _truly_ caught his eye however was the pair of swords she was polishing. They appeared to be tantō, but they seemed to be just a bit longer than the average kind.

Stepping closer, he accidentally stepped on a creaky floorboard and the girl quickly spun her head around, her own katana at the ready. When she saw Naruto, the girl quickly sheathed her blade and let out a sigh. "Don't sneak up on me like that kid. What are you doing back here? This is an employee-only area. If you needed something, why the heck didn't you ring the bell?" Standing up, she was about to put the tantō away, but she suddenly felt the blonde's hands upon hers. Blushing just a bit, she turned and narrowed her eyes at him. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

The blonde simply smiled at the girl with the Chinese-style buns in her hair and shook his head. "Relax, I'm not a threat, nor am I attempting to steal anything. I just want to see those swords. What can you tell me about then Katana-san?" Naruto chuckled at the name he chose to give her while the girl just sighed and handed him the tantō.

As the boy examined the blades, the girl frowned at him and folded her arms across her chest. "First of all, my name is Tenten. Second, those blades probably aren't for you unless…" Now that she was looking him over better, she spotted the sheathes strapped to his back and his waistband and found herself blinking occasionally as she prepared to pull her foot out of her mouth. It was also at this point that she finally noticed the hitai-ate resting comfortably on his forehead. "Oh."

Naruto looked into her eyes and cocked his head to the side. "What? Are these blades cursed or something? Is that why you're not telling me?" The blonde asked as he continued to look into her eyes. Holding the blades up to eye level, he motioned towards them. "I'm not going to get cursed just by holding these swords, am I Tenten-san? Please talk to me."

Tenten blinked a couple more times and slowly nodded her head. "Uhhh, it's fine Blondie. The swords aren't cursed; I just wasn't expecting to meet somebody like you. Are you one of the new Genin?" Naruto smiled broadly at that and nodded his head. "Yep! I'm Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, Genin squad member of the new Team 10 dattebayo!" Tenten's eyes went wide at that and she quickly found herself blushing furiously as she looked the young man up and down. Naruto looked at her oddly again and, after placing the tantō into his lap, quickly put his hand to her forehead before placing the same hand on both of her cheeks, one after the other.

After he was finished, young Naruto pulled his hand away and frowned. "You don't seem to be running a fever. So…why are you blushing? Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?" Tenten closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. When she finally felt as if she could speak again, she opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Naruto-san, nothing's wrong. I just didn't have any idea that you're the son of our Yondaime. I was being _so_ rude to you. Please forgive me?"

As she bowed her head to him, Naruto found himself fidgeting where he sat and reached out, quickly patting her back. "Umm, there's really no need to bow Tenten-san. And there's absolutely nothing to forgive. You didn't know, and before you say anything, there really wasn't any way that you _could_ have known. Okay? Now, if you really do want to make it up to me, not saying you have to, just saying if that's what you _really_ want to do, then will you please tell me about these tantō? I'm looking for a new sword or two, and these just seem perfect. I'd like to learn more about them before I make my final decision."

Tenten grinned and nodded her head. "Of course Naruto-san! These tantō are actually of a unique design. The blades are heavier and a little longer than your average tantō, as I'm sure you can tell already. My father was actually the one to design them. He actually told me that he designed these for somebody special that he felt was going to come in today. It's some kind of weird gift of his. I actually hoped that I'd be the one to use them, but I guess if the swords were calling you, then you can have them Naruto-san. Umm, what else?" Tapping her left index finger against her chin, Naruto found himself simply grinning at her, much to her embarrassment.

Tenten did her best to ignore the stares of her fellow weapons fanatic (even if he was only truly interested in swords at the moment) as she tried to recall everything her father had told her about these swords. "Ah! Tou-san calls these tantō Akuryouno Ame (Demonized Rain). It's…a dark name, sure, but he said it would probably make sense to the one who uses them." Shrugging her shoulders, the lovely young lass reached over and gently brushed her fingers along the blade of one of the tantō. "Apparently if the right person pumps enough chakra into them, they'll glow red and gain 'mysterious powers'. Tch, I think he just got drunk again when he was making these things. I've tried pumping a bit of my chakra into them before and they just glowed blue. Who knows though? If you're this 'right person', then Tou-san might actually be right and they might be pretty special. He did use a strange metal though that I've never seen before, sooo…yeah! What do you think?!"

The blonde boy brought the swords back to eye level and looked them over for a moment longer. "Akuryouno Ame? Can I ask you something Tenten-san?" When she nodded her head and flashed him a rather beautiful smile, Naruto grinned back at her for a brief moment before he quickly turned serious. "That metal you mentioned…how did your tou-san acquire it?"

"You know, that's a good question. It was last week actually. A gray-haired woman…she was really beautiful now that I think about it..." Noticing the quirked eyebrow on her new friend, Tenten quickly chuckled nervously and shrugged it off. "Aaanyways, she had all kinds of things, but only gave Tou-san that strange metal. She never gave us her name, and she only talked with Tou-san. I don't know the full conversation they had, but I guess she's actually why Tou-san was expecting you, huh Naruto-san?"

Naruto smirked and nodded his head. "That would make sense, I suppose. You see this sword strapped to my waistband here?" She nodded slowly, wondering what he was going to say. "Kaa-san's friend gave this to her to give to me. I don't know Kaa-san's friend's name yet, but after your story, I'm sure she's probably the one who came by and gave your tou-san that metal. She probably knew I'd be coming in today. She's been watching me apparently and I don't even know who she is. It's weird."

The Weapons Mistress of Konoha shook her head. "That _is_ weird, but I'm not surprised that people would be watching you Naruto-san. You're very well known in the village! You are the Yondaime's son after all and some people have actually talked about how hard you train. I was actually hoping that I'd get the chance to meet you as well someday. I had heard you were studying Kenjutsu, but I never truly expected to meet you like this." When Naruto smiled at her and nodded his head, the young woman smiled back. "I graduated from the academy last year Naruto-san. I'm on Team 9 with somebody who's really stuck-up and two people who are absolutely insane. Those three can really give a person a serious headache sometimes, but we're a good team. You said you were on Team 10 earlier? Who else is on your team?"

Naruto grinned and stood up, holding out a hand for her to take. Take it she did, and the young blonde man helped her up as they began walking towards the front of the store together so he could purchase the swords and Naruko's things and be on their way. "My teammates are Choji Akimichi and Shino Aburame. Weird team, I know. Our sensei is actually Asuma Sarutobi, Jiji-sama's son. We just had our survival test today and, as you probably know already, we passed. Wasn't easy though, I can tell you that."

As they laughed together and talked some more, Naruko was tapping her foot, waiting impatiently for her otouto to appear again. Kushina hadn't any idea where her little one had run off to and was actually quite worried for him. When Naruto came around the corner with a girl, both of them were shocked to say the least. Naruko turned red and began to yell at him. "You ran off to flirt with another girl Naruto-kun?! Ugh! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Both Naruto and Tenten froze in their tracks and looked at each other. Naruto soon turned back to his sister and waved his hands defensively. "O-Onee-san, it's not what you think! She helped me find these swords! I've been talking with her about these swords, her tou-san, her team, my team, just…stuff! We weren't flirting, I swear!" Tenten nodded slowly, but Naruko turned around and huffed, clearly not buying what they were saying.

"Your sister seems…jealous. What's going on?" Naruto sighed and lowered his head, beginning to sulk a bit. "I really don't know. She's always been really protective of me, and ever since I began spending more time with my girlfriends, she's been acting stranger and stranger whenever she sees me with them. In fact, if I spend time with ANY girl she gets like this. I just don't understand it at all." Tenten frowned and agreed that it was quite odd, but she couldn't really say anything on it. Shrugging her shoulders, she gently patted her new friend on his shoulders and smiled. "Don't worry too much about it Naruto-kun. I'd talk more, but I still have work left to do. See you later!" Giving her newfound friend a quick hug, adding to Naruko's fury and Kushina's amusement, Tenten rushed off to continue her part-time job at her tou-san's store.

The young blonde sighed heavily and walked over, placing his new tantō on the counter with his sister's things. "Kaa-san, I hope it's okay, but I actually chose two swords. Tenten-chan said they're called Akuryouno Ame and I'm pretty sure your friend supplied the metal her tou-san used to make them." Kushina nodded and was about to speak when she saw her redheaded daughter grab Naruto and drag him outside. Looking to the tall man behind the counter, Kushina shrugged and simply decided to pay for everything while she prayed to Kami that Naruko wouldn't kill her dear son.

_**Outside**_

"Naruko-chan, what'd I do wrong this time?! Why are you always so upset with me whenever I talk with a girl?!" Naruto shouted, demanding to know what the hell was wrong with his onee-san. As much as he loved her, Naruko had been driving him a bit crazy for a good while now and he didn't like being upset with her. After all, the lovely redhead was his sister.

After taking some time to calm herself, Naruko looked into his eyes and reached up to play with his whiskers a bit. Of course, this action only further confused him and caused the young man to start laughing. "I see this still tickles. Good." After a time, she stopped tickling him and smirked. "I still like doing that. Not only does it make you laugh, but they look so cute on you Otouto."

Naruto nodded slowly and just looked at her in silence for a good while. As she looked down at her feet, the young man pulled her into another hug and kissed the top of her head. "I don't know what's wrong with you Naruko-chan, but I love you. I hope you know that. You're my sister, my _family_. If you're afraid of something or scared for me or _anything_ at all, I really hope you would tell me." Pulling back, Naruto looked into her eyes and noticed the tears. "W-Why are you crying Onee-san?!"

As he went to wipe the tears, Naruko quickly grabbed his hands and smiled at him. "I-It's nothing. I'm just being silly." Naruto frowned at her and gave her the sternest expression he could. "You're crying Naruko-onee-san. There's got to be something wrong if you're crying like that. Now tell me!"

Breathing in deeply, the redhead sighed and nodded her head as she continued to hold her otouto's hands. "I…feel like I'm losing you Naruto-kun." At this, Naruto raised his gaze from her hands to her eyes and stared at her in shock. "W-W-What?! What does that mean Naruko-chan?!"

By this time, Kushina had already stepped out of the store with everything now resting in sealing scrolls in her pouches. She had been spying on them for a few brief moments and was currently giggling inwardly, being as silent as she could be so she wouldn't disturb anything juicy she could potentially tease them with later.

Sighing heavily, Naruko took a few steps closer and wrapped her arms around her otouto tightly. "You're always spending so much time with your girlfriends and…well…it feels like you're starting to forget about me…I guess. I want your attention to Otouto! Before they came along, it was always just us. You spent almost all your time with me and I guess I just really miss that. They're stealing you away from me and…and…"

Naruto frowned deeply at this and held her close to him, letting her sob into his shoulder and neck all she wanted. "I…see. So you're just feeling a little jealous? You'll always be one of my most important people Naruko-chan. Like I already said, I love you a lot. You're my sister and we've been together for a long, long time. But…I have Sakura-chan and Ino-chan now too and they deserve some of my attention too, don't you think? They ARE my girlfriends after all. Besides, if I suddenly started to ignore them, I think one or both of them would probably try to kick my ass for it later. Don't you?"

Naruko pulled back, wiped her eyes clean of the tears, and began to twitch angrily at that. "Are you trying to tell me that your girlfriends _abuse_ you Naruto-kun?" And now, due to a simple mistake when wording his sentences, his girlfriends and even he appeared to be in deep trouble. Naruto could feel the killing intent radiating off of his sister and immediately did the first thing he could do, he pulled her back against him and rested his chin on her shoulder. "O-Onee-san, calm down. I didn't mean it like that!"

The redhead pulled back and whacked him over the head hard with her fist. "You baka! You let your girlfriends beat you up don't' you?! Answer me!" Naruto groaned as his face hit the dirt and he winced from the pain. Rising to his knees, the young blonde looked up at her and chuckled nervously. "N-Naruko-chan, I'm telling you the truth. Nothing like that has ever happened. I was _joking_. They're both very, very sweet. I was just exaggerating a bit. They'd get mad and upset and probably think I forgot about them or something, but they wouldn't actually hit me. That's not to say Sakura didn't actually try that once when we were younger though, but she…wait…Naruko-chan?"

Looking up, Naruto saw that his sister's eyes were dark and there was a vicious grin upon her face. Scared for his life, the blonde backed up against the wall of the building and stared at her in horror. When she began to laugh, Naruto became even more creeped out. _She sounds like she's gone crazy. Where the hell is Kaa-san?!_

"I knew I couldn't trust that pink-haired bitch! I'll kill her for trying to hurt you! Where does she live Naru-kun?!" Right as she went to grab her younger brother, Kushina jumped in and grabbed both of her wrists firmly. "Whoa there Naruko-chan, that's enough. I've watched them quite often and I can assure you that they have been nothing but kind to him. Naruto's just...lacking tact here when dealing with this it seems. It's nice that you care so much for your otouto Musume, but aren't you getting a little overzealous in your attempts to 'protect' him?"

Naruko glared up into her kaa-chan's eyes for a moment before she relented and lowered her gaze. "Fine. But…but I don't have to be happy about this! I know it has to sound incredibly selfish and stupid of me…but why the hell couldn't it just stay the same? You don't see me running around with boys! And don't mention my teammates because they don't count! I just miss all the time I used to be able to spend with Naruto-kun. It made me so happy and I want that time back! But…but…"

As Naruko went silent, Kushina frowned and knelt down, putting her mouth close to her musume's ear. "You can talk to me Naruko-chan. I promise you that. After Naruto-kun goes to bed tonight, you and I can talk. Okay?" Leaning back, the Uzumaki mother smiled at her daughter and watched as Naruko nodded, again wiping at her tears. "That's my musume. Now come on. Let's go get some ramen and try to have a good rest of the night. Sound good you two?" As both nodded, Kushina grinned and rushed off. "Last one there's paying the bill!" Snickering to herself as her children yelled at her about being unfair, they did their best to catch up with her so they wouldn't have to pay what would most likely be an insane price for Kami only knows how many bowls of ramen they'd end up eating together!

_**Later that Night – Uzumaki-Namikaze Estate**_

When they arrived home once more, Naruto immediately rushed for his room. At first he had talked about how he was probably going to practice with his new tantō, but on the walk home the young blond realized how very tired he was after the day's events. So, waving at the two women, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze took his things and rushed on upstairs, wishing them both good night as he did.

As soon as the main man in their lives disappeared into his room, both Kushina and Naruko let out a sigh and shook their heads before seating themselves on a couch. The older redhead wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulder and pulled her in close so her head was resting on her bosom. "Naruko-chan? Sweetie? He should be asleep real soon. We can talk now." Naruko nodded her head slowly and hugged her mother tight. "You…have a crush on your brother…don't you Naruko-chan?"

Naruko shot back and stared at her mother with wide eyes. There was a look of horror evident on her face, but there was also confusion, embarrassment, and sadness all mixed together in her eyes and on her face. The younger redhead lowered her gaze and frowned. "That's not funny Kaa-chan. Naruto-kun's my otouto, it's not like that! I told you…I'm just being selfish. I want all of his attention focused on me, not on those stupid girlfriends of his."

Kushina hugged her daughter closer to her again and smiled, shaking her head slightly. "Sweetie, they make him smile all the time. Naruto-kun has rubbed off on them pretty well. They joke just like he does, and they're starting to gain his appetite believe it or not. They've also got it in their minds that they have to train ten times as hard now just to try and impress him when Naruto-kun really only cares about their happiness and making sure they stay safe." Sighing, Kushina leaned back and stared over her shoulder towards Naruto's room up the stairs. "My point is this: they're good for your otouto Naruko-chan. And…he is good for them too. I think you know all of this though already, don't you Sweetheart?"

Naruko grumbled and closed her eyes, practically burying her face into her mother's sizeable chest now. "I don't care Kaa-chan." She mumbled quietly, her voice being muffled somewhat from her position between Kushina's breasts. "I bet Naruto-kun's going to forget about our promise next. He'll be so happy with those…those hussies that he'll forget all about the promise we made to each other. I don't like being without him. Things just don't feel right for me on that team. Marco's always flirting with me and on this last mission he…he…the little bastard grabbed my ass Kaa-chan!"

Kushina stared dumbly at her daughter, barely registering what was said to her. The first person to actually say something was someone neither of them expected. "That jerk felt you up Onee-chan?! Please tell me you kicked his ass dattebayo! If you didn't do anything, I'm going to go cut off the offending limb right now!" Naruto shouted as he zipped from his room all the way into his sister's arms.

The two women simply stared at him, both speechless. "M-Musuko…how long have you been listening in?" Kushina asked, clearly concerned that the two of them had been found out and he had been eavesdropping on them somehow this entire time. Naruko was blushing _furiously_ at this point. The young lass knew how smart her otouto was, and she also knew that he had probably already figured everything out already. It didn't help that he was currently holding her tightly to him with her face buried in his chest, despite her being a few inches taller than he was. _Oh Kami-sama, kill me now._

Naruko giggled nervously and pulled back from her otouto just enough so she could look him in the eyes. Blushing as she did, the young lady decided to speak to try and calm her otouto even if only slightly. "O-Otouto…I didn't kill him and I didn't cut off any of his body parts, though I wanted to _badly_. I punched him really hard and knocked out some of his teeth, even broke his nose and gave him a black eye, but I didn't get to do anything else. Kirobi-sensei stopped me from doing anything more and gave me a big lecture about why I shouldn't kill teammates. Didn't even do anything about the freaking pervert though. It was almost like Marco was just supposed to be allowed to get away with copping a damn feel on me!"

Sighing heavily, Naruko buried her face into Naruto's neck and closed her eyes, her warm breath exhaling on her brother's skin making him shiver and blush terribly. "Sometimes I hate being the only girl on the team. I…don't feel right with them. Marco creeps me out a lot, and sensei doesn't seem like he'd actually do anything to help me if Marco tried anything. Your team had better be prepared for the Chunin Exams being held in Konoha in six months Otouto, because I don't want to be stuck with them for any longer than I have to be! In the meantime, when I do have to go out of Konoha on missions with them, I'm sleeping with my swords clutched tight in my hands."

Kushina frowned at this news. Naruko hadn't told her about any of this and she definitely planned to speak with Sarutobi-sama about this in the morning. She also planned to speak with the Shinigami about looking after her musume as well. Rules be damned, Kushina wasn't about to let some over-stimulated egotistical prick have his way with _her_ musume without doing something about it!

As the rant was going on in Kushina's head, Naruto was busy running his fingers through his sister's beautiful red hair. Occasionally he'd collect a few strands around one or two of his fingers and play with them for a bit before he continued stroking her hair. "Naruko-chan…I'll send out a toad to speak with our godfather, Jiraiya. Depending on how far out he is right now, I'd say he should be able to return in a day or three. I'll explain the situation in the letter and we can ask him to watch out for you in secret. Tou-san made sure he'd be watching out for all three of us after all, so this is something he'd be perfect for, right Kaa-san?!"

When Naruto looked her way, Kushina blinked a few times and nodded her head slowly. "R-Right. I almost forgot about him. Jiraiya-sama's been gone for at least three months now, hasn't he? What makes you think he'll be able to return so quickly Naruto-kun?"

Naruto grinned at her and shook his head. "Kaa-san, Jiraiya-sama had us sign the Toad Summoning Contract. He uses the toads to keep track of us from time to time. Well, Naruko-chan and I do the same thing with him. We can just summon a toad and have it deliver Jiraiya-sama a message and he'll receive it moments later. It doesn't really take much for us to keep in touch. As for how I judged the time at which he could return…wellll..." Scratching at the tip of his nose, the young man chuckled nervously. "The last time I sent him a letter was about three days ago and he…well, he found a town somewhere in northeastern Fire Country that had some really nice hot springs. Said he had already been able to perform some exceptional 'research' there and had been for a couple of days already. If he's still there, he can be back within two days. If he's left the town already, it could be anywhere from one to three days depending on whether he's moved closer to Konohagakure or further from us. But I have a feeling that our godfather's most likely still conducting that 'research' of his."

Kushina nodded with her eyes closed. She could only imagine the kind of 'research' her old friend was doing at the moment with those poor, unknowing ladies. "Children." Opening her eyelids slightly, the redhead looked into the eyes of both of her children and grinned darkly. "When your godfather gets back, I want you to say your good-byes. When he gets back, I'm going to _kill_ him." The brother and sister nodded slowly and took a few steps back from their 'darling' kaa-san/kaa-chan.

While Kushina worked out her plan to murder Jiraiya in her head, Naruko turned to Naruto and smiled at him as she hugged him tight. "I love you Otouto. I still want to become Chunin together, and if it means I have to put up with Marco and that stupid sexist sensei of mine, I'll tough it out for us okay? And by the way…thank you. For listening to me and offering to help me like that. You're the best otouto a girl could ask for." Kissing his cheek, Naruko clung to Naruto tighter and smiled brightly at him as she began to nuzzle his whiskered cheek.

Naruto found himself blushing again as he just hugged his onee-chan close. "You're welcome Naruko-chan. I'd do anything for you, you know that. And…just so you know…I never forgot that promise. It's on my mind a lot. I'd do absolutely anything to make you happy, and you already know that I never go back on my promises. What kind of ninja would I be if I broke my nindo (Ninja Way), huh? You do remember what my nindo is, right Naruko-chan?"

His sister giggled cutely and nodded, currently feeling sort of entranced by his deep, blue eyes. ""I'm not gonna run away and I absolutely never go back on my word." Right, Naruto-kun?" When he nodded, Naruko did something that caught everyone in the room completely off guard…she _kissed_ Naruto on the lips. This wasn't just a quick peck; this was a long smooch where she just wanted to pour her feelings out to him however she could. When the redhead finally broke the kiss, she stepped back and smiled sweetly at Naruto. At least until her mind registered what she had just done and her eyes went wide as saucers before she proceeded to faint where she stood.

Kushina found herself grinning widely as she watched the scene unfolding before her. Naruko fainting was hilarious to her, but more than that was Naruto's reaction. Her little boy's eyes were enormous right now and his mouth kept twitching. It appeared as if he was trying to find the right words to speak, but his poor brain had simply chosen that moment to shut down on him. Instead, the poor young blonde was only making brief sounds that didn't make sense no matter who heard them or how many times they were heard. "Oh my poor, sweet little musuko. I wonder if you understand it now."

Naruto slowly turned to his kaa-san and blinked a few times as he sat himself down on the couch, Naruko's head resting on his lap as she laid between them. "U-Understand w-w-what Kaa-san?" Naruto asked timidly as he absentmindedly stroked Naruko's hair again. Kushina giggled cutely and shook her head. "Sweetheart, little Naruko-chan's had a crush on you for _yeaaaars_! I was beginning to wonder if she'd _ever_ say anything. Well, she certainly did more than 'say' something, didn't she my little Naruto-kun?" Giggling, she reached over and fiddled with one of his whiskers just to tease him a little more as he blushed harder and harder at her words.

Naruto looked into his sister's face and found himself blushing more. "B-But…why me? We're siblings. Isn't it…wrong Kaa-san?" Kushina frowned at him and shook her head. "In a world such as ours Musuko, it really isn't. Take a look at some of the other clans out there. The Uchiha, the Hyuga, the Aburame…there are many clans out there that actually _practice_ incest. Some of it's done to keep things 'pure' so-to-speak, but oftentimes it just kind of happens. You can't control how you feel for somebody else, even if that person happens to be a family member you turn out to feel close to."

Tapping her fingers against her chin, Kushina thought of something else to help get her point about incest being okay in their world across. "Naruto-kun, if you're still a little worried, think about it like this, okay? Sometimes when a clan is dying out, like the Uzumaki clan for instance, there are a few options that will come into play. One is something that tends to rub a lot of people the wrong way. It's known as the CRA (Clan Restoration Act). I'll explain more about that later. Another solution that sometimes is able to present itself is to seek mates within the clan itself among the surviving members. Sooo, in this case, as you are the only remaining _male_ member of the Uzumaki clan, Naruko-chan and you would be permitted to mate regardless of what some might think. So Musuko, do you understand now? If you want to be with Naruko-chan, it's fine and nobody can stop you. I certainly won't."

Smiling down at her son, Kushina was actually feeling somewhat nervous on the inside. _Please don't figure it out, please don't figure it out, please don't figure it out…_ Naruto frowned as he found what his Kaa-san said replaying over and over again in his mind. "I think I understand all of that Kaa-san. Thank you. But…with the demonstration you've used…what about you Kaa-san? The Uzumaki clan blood runs stronger in you, doesn't it? You married somebody outside the clan and we were born from the, err…'seed' of that man, the Yondaime of Konoha, but your parents…weren't they both full-blooded Uzumaki, or…?"

Kushina sighed and slapped her palm to her face. _Damn you Musuko and your obsession on thinking about things!_ "Musuko…as…'wrong' as it may sound, you're on the right track. Seeing as how you are the only male Uzumaki clan member left and what you said holds true…it would actually be encouraged for us to have relations as well. But! Don't go flying off the handle Musuko, it's not actually going to happen! Okay?" Seeing him nod, Kushina smiled sweetly at him and nodded her head in kind. "Besides, if that's likely to happen to anyone, it'd be your 'friend' Sasuke Uchiha and his kaa-san, Mikoto Uchiha that got forced into doing something like that. It won't be you and me Musuko."

Both of them pictured that and immediately regretted doing so. "K-Kaa-san? Let's hope Mikoto-chan's never forced to do something like that with Sasuke-teme. Never ever _eveeeer_! Not only is it wrong, but he's just so wrong for her! Sasuke's mean, rude, disrespectful, and he tends to ignore what she says half the time. Meanwhile, Mikoto-chan's sweet, gentle, kind, funny, the list just goes on. She deserves far better than Sasuke-teme! And besides that, he's her musuko! That's just disgusting to even think about Kaa-san!"

Kushina nodded again. "Agreed. That is a coupling that just would not work no matter how you looked at it. But, more importantly, since when did you start calling my best friend 'Mikoto-chan', hmmmm Naruto-kun?" The redhead felt she had found something else to tease her little musuko about, but he quickly turned redder and rushed off, leaving her alone on the couch with Naruko while he hid away in his room. _Kaa-san – 550, Naruto-kun – 3. I've still got it!_ Giggling evilly to herself, the loving mother reached down and began gently stroking her daughter's hair. _I'm happy for you Naruko-chan. Things are finally going to start looking up for you from now on, I'm sure of it._

_**Two Weeks Later – Team 10's Training Ground**_

As Naruto stepped onto the training ground for what he _assumed_ would be just another day of training and boring D-rank missions, his mind was wandering to all the different events of the past two weeks. One of the major happenings is the fact that he actually went on a date with Naruko and he still couldn't quite wrap his head around the whole thing.

Breathing out a heavy sigh, Naruto sat between his teammates and closed his eyes as he placed his head in his hands. "I can't believe I did that. What the hell am I going to tell Sakura-chan and Ino-chan? What the hell am I going to tell _anybody_?" Choji and Shino both looked at their friend, curious to know what he was muttering about. After a moment, Choji reached a hand over and gently shook the blonde Uzumaki-Namikaze. "Naruto? Calm down. What the heck's going on?"

Naruto sighed and looked into the eyes of both of his friends. Realizing he had been speaking his thoughts aloud instead of keeping everything silent, the young blonde realized he had let too much slip already. Groaning, he leaned his head back on the tree and stared upwards at the sky. "I found out a couple of weeks ago after getting my new tantō that…Naruko-chan _likes_ me. And yes, I mean in _that_ way. It was pretty obvious when she k-kissed me." Seeing his friends' eyes widen, Naruto chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Y-Yeah. Kaa-san and I had a long talk about it, and things actually aren't all that bad. What she said makes a lot of sense, and Naruko-chan and I have always gotten along really well. I just never expected her to like me like _that_! Know what I mean?"

Choji chuckled softly and nodded his head while Shino merely squeezed Naruto's shoulder softly. "If it helps to alleviate your fears Naruto-san, I do not judge you if you have chosen to have relations with your sister. As for your current girlfriends, perhaps we could try and come up with an explanation of sorts for them?" Choji nodded in agreement and both looked to Naruto to see what he would say.

Sighing, Naruto nodded his head. "Apparently, as the last male of the Uzumaki clan, it's actually not an uncommon experience for one of the women of my family to, erm…'bed' me as a first step of sorts towards rebuilding our clan. I think my best course of action would be to just tell Sakura-chan and Ino-chan outright what's going on. Naruko-chan likes me a lot, we've…kissed a couple of times, and…per Kaa-san's insistence, Naruko-chan and I went on a date last week and it was actually really, well…nice." Naruto shrugged his shoulders and looked over towards the entrance of the training grounds where their sensei was currently standing. "I'm going to talk with the two of them as soon as I can. They deserve to know what's going on. It still feels a little…_weird_ to me, but it doesn't feel _wrong_. The thing that bugs me is that I haven't told them yet. I really just hope they'll understand."

Choji and Shino both looked over to their sensei and nodded at each other. "All right Naruto. Whatever you decide to do, just know that you have our support." Rising, all three Genin approached their Jonin sensei and smiled. "Hello Asuma-sensei. You didn't come to greet us, so I assume you have a mission lined up for us?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious about what they would be doing today.

The Sarutobi looked down at his students and sighed. Looking into Naruto's eyes, the young smoker ruffled his own hair a moment before nodding and speaking. "Yeah, Pops is giving us a C-rank mission today. He'll give us the details when we visit him in his office." Looking his Genin team over once again, Asuma nodded and smiled. "I believe you're all ready to try some harder missions, so let's make our first _true_ mission a success. Let's go!" Grinning at his team, the Jonin started off towards the Hokage Tower so they could speak with his old man. As they ran along, Asuma occasionally glanced back at Naruto and did his best to hide his frown.

_Flashback – 3 Days Ago – Team 10's Training Ground_

While watching his Genin spar with each other, Asuma kept watching over his shoulder. Every now and then he swore he could see someone weaving around in the trees. After some time of this, he decided to check it out. The idea of being spied on did not sit well with Asuma Sarutobi and he needed to make sure that he and his Genin were safe. So, leaving a Hai Bunshin (Ash Clone) behind to monitor his Genin and help guide them, Asuma disappeared to track the 'spy'.

A few, brief moments later, Asuma was standing on a tree branch looking around for any sign of the spy. "Tch, I just missed him. Who the hell's been watching us?" The Jonin soon stiffened as he felt a presence behind him and heard a soft, female voice. "Don't you mean _her_ Asuma-san?"

Turning around slowly, his chakra blades at the ready, Asuma was greeted with a rather lovely vision. There, standing before him was a woman with radiant silver hair that reached down to her feet and covered the right half of her face, leaving only her left eye visible. As he stared into that eye, an eye the dark color of sapphire, he found himself wondering just who this woman was that she could so easily sneak up on him. "Relax, I am not here to bring harm to you Asuma-san. If I wanted you dead, I would never have even allowed you to sense me."

Asuma chose that moment to interrupt her as he slipped away his blades. "Fine, fine. What the hell are you doing here lady? Why are you spying on my team?" The Shinigami sighed and shook her head. "Not you or your team, just one of your young Genin." This caused Asuma to raise an eyebrow as he took out a cigarette and lit it. "I'm keeping an eye on Naruto-kun."

The Sarutobi groaned and shook his head. "And why does this news _not_ surprise me?" The Shinigami giggled softly and Asuma found her laughter to be incredibly cute. Shaking the thought from his head, he narrowed his eyes at the woman. "Go on, I assume you're going to let me know why the hell you've been spying on my student?"

The Shinigami nodded softly and smiled. "First, let me apologize for disrupting your training session with your team. Second, I feel that because you are training little Naruto-kun that you deserved to know of my presence. Only one other knows I've been keeping an eye on the little one and that is the boy's mother." Asuma again raised an eyebrow as he took a puff of his cigarette and motioned for her to continue. "I have chosen to watch young Naruto-kun and keep him safe. I will follow this team on any missions outside of the village and I will continue to watch these training sessions of yours. Should I feel that his life is in any danger, I will intervene and protect him. I have taken a special interest in little Naruto-kun from the time that he was born. It is by my hand that his dear mother, Kushina Uzumaki is still among the living…"

Asuma raised his hand and interrupted her. "Wait. I heard Kushina was in a pretty crappy state the night of the Kyuubi attack, but how could you have anything to do with her survival? Were you…?" The silver-haired woman held up her hand and giggled softly as she shook her head. "No, no Asuma-san, I was not one of the medic-nin from that night. Nor did I have anything to do with the Kyuubi attack or anything else that night. I simply made a deal of sorts with dear Kushina-chan."

The Sarutobi could feel a mighty headache coming on, but rather than rub the bridge of his nose or take another puff of his cigarette, he decided to speak again and seat himself upon the branch. "What _kind_ of deal are we talking about Miss…?"

The Shinigami took a few steps closer and grinned down at him. "You may call me Yure. But Kushina-chan knows me as the Shinigami." When Asuma stiffened, Yure placed the backs of a few of her fingers against his cheek and the young Sarutobi could feel the chill of death upon his skin, slowly sucking away the life in that area of his body. After a few, quick seconds, Yure retracted her hand and smirked down at him again. "Now that you understand, I will continue."

Asuma stared straight ahead for a time, his cigarette long having fallen from his grip to the ground below. Yure, not wanting anything to happen, used a quick suiton (Water Release) jutsu to drench the cigarette as she took a seat a short distance away from the Jonin sensei. After a few minutes that seemed more like a matter of hours to the both of them, Asuma finally turned to stare at the woman. "You're the…?"

"Shinigami? Yes." The Shinigami smirked again and giggled at his dumbstruck expression. "You…you don't look anything like what I expected." Yure sighed and shook her head. "Kushina-chan had a similar reaction when I showed her this form for the first time." Asuma sighed and chose this moment to rub the bridge of his nose. The area where Yure had just recently touched had healed just seconds after she retracted her hand. As amazing as that was to him, Asuma had other thoughts on his mind. "You look like you're maybe seventeen, maybe eighteen years old. Is there a reason you chose such a, erm…'young' form when you could very likely take any form you'd like?"

Yure nodded her head. "Yes, but I will get into that a little later. If I remember correctly, you asked me what kind of deal I made with Kushina-chan?" Asuma nodded slowly and looked into her eye. "I promised I would keep her and her family alive in exchange for something. And yes, that something is little Naruto-kun." At the look in Asuma's eyes, Yure grinned wide and awaited the inevitable question.

Asuma glanced back towards where his three Genin were training and frowned before looking back at the Shinigami. "What could you possibly want with Naruto-kun?" Yure grinned wider and began to laugh a soft, chilling laughter. "I am going to make him my apprentice. Well, something of the sort anyway. You don't need to know anything more than that. Just train him well and take good care of him. When the time comes, I will take him under my wing. For now, I am content to simply watch over him. Now, before I go, I expect you to agree to a few things Asuma-san." The smirk on the woman's face sent shivers down Asuma Sarutobi's spine. As much as he knew he was going to regret it, he began to listen to her 'demands'…

_End Flashback_

Asuma looked forward again and shook his head to try and clear his mind of those thoughts. That woman had threatened him with her Shi no Geijixyutsu: Shi no Tacchi (Death Arts: Touch of Death) should he let anything slip, and just _remembering_ when she laid her fingers on his skin made his body go cold. So far, the Jonin had kept his word and hadn't told Naruto a thing about Yure. Nor had he gone to Kushina with his knowledge of her 'friend'. As desperately as Asuma wanted to know why in the hell Kushina would agree to let the Shinigami _figuratively_ have her son, the Jonin knew better than to go against the wishes of the Goddess of Death, a being that could kill him with a simple touch. Sighing again, he picked up the pace, knowing full well his team could keep up with him. _She's going to be watching us this entire time. Please Kami, don't let anything bad happen on this mission!_

_**Eight Minutes Later – Hokage's Office**_

Team 10 was now standing before their Hokage, each of them bowing low. Soon, the four of them straightened and both Asuma and Naruto grinned at the Sandaime. "Hey Pops/Jiji! How's it going?" Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled softly and shook his head. "Today's been a rather slow day. So much blasted paperwork and nothing to really show for any of it just yet. The more I deal with, the larger the pile becomes. It's rather frustrating."

Everyone in the room immediately nodded their heads in agreement. "Regardless, that is not why you are here. Asuma, you specifically requested a C-ranked mission for your team when you visited me earlier. I looked through the missions available and I have found one that I think is perfect for your team. Originally it was going to go to a team of Chunin or perhaps a highly skilled Genin team such as Guy's, but I feel that this is the perfect mission for your team. Here."

Asuma watched as his tou-san pushed the file across the desk to him. Lifting it into his hands and up to eye level, the Jonin flipped through and looked things over. "All right, this sounds like a good mission. We'll take it Pops." Hiruzen smirked and nodded his head. "Good. Tazuna-san, you may come in now."

All eyes turned to the door as it opened slowly to reveal a rather gruff-looking man with a straw hat atop his head and a bottle of sake in his hand. The elderly man looked over the team of four carefully for a moment, looking over each of them with a speculative eye as he did. "So this is the team that's meant to protect me? So far, I'm not impressed. A fat ass, some creepy boy, a blonde shrimp, and what I assume to be their sensei? That's what's going to be protecting me? Pathetic."

Asuma sighed and shook his head. He was just about to grab two of his students when he heard Naruto laughing. All eyes turned to rest on the blonde as he stepped forward, his hands resting on the handles of his tantōs. "Tazuna-san, correct?" The man just nodded slowly, a sudden chill running down his spine as the boy continued to step closer. When Naruto suddenly appeared behind him with both of his tantōs aimed at two different vital points on his body, Tazuna began to shake. "Whatever situation you're in, I assure you that we're the ones you'll want to be looking after you. Asuma-sensei is a skilled Jonin, not to mention the musuko of the Sandaime Hokage. We are his Genin team: Shino Aburame, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, and Choji Akimichi."

Retracting his blades and slipping them back into their sheathes, Naruto turned around and smirked at their charge. "Shino, or 'some creepy boy' as you so deemed him, is the heir to the Aburame clan and is highly skilled in tracking, debilitating foes, and he is also a skilled strategist. Choji, the one you deemed 'fat ass', which, by the way was a really dumb idea, is the heir to the Akimichi clan. He is highly skilled in Taijutsu and is our powerhouse attacker. Whereas I am the Yondaime Hokage's son. I am skilled in Kenjutsu and I have a few powerful jutsu under my belt. Trust me Tazuna-san, you couldn't ask for a better team to look after you." Reaching up, Naruto gently patted Tazuna on the shoulder and walked past him to rejoin his teammates.

Tazuna shivered slightly and looked to the Sandaime. Shrugging his shoulders, the Hokage simply lit his pipe and smiled. "Naruto-kun is right. You are in very capable hands Tazuna-san. Now, all of you are dismissed. Take good care of your client you four!" Asuma and the rest of Team 10 nodded, shouting a quick "Yes!" in response before the Jonin sensei turned to Tazuna. "Tazuna-san, how long do you suspect we'll be gone?"

Tazuna scratched at his beard for a time before he answered. "I'd say it would depend on how quickly we reach my village. Maybe three to four weeks tops?" Asuma nodded and turned to his Genin team. "All right you three go home and pack everything you think you might need for that time period. We meet at the gate in an hour. Dismissed!" Tazuna and Asuma watched as Team 10 disappeared through the door before turning to the Hokage. "Pops, we'll see you in a month. Don't let the place burn down while we're gone." Chuckling to himself, Asuma winked at his tou-san before disappearing through the door with Tazuna, leaving a grumbling Hokage behind.

_**1 Hour Later – Gates of Konoha**_

Team 10 was watching for Naruto to arrive. It was nearing the one hour mark and he had yet to arrive. They were used to him being one of the last to arrive to team meetings and training sessions and such, but would he really be late to a mission? None of them thought so, and when they finally heard his voice, each of them began to chuckle.

Approaching them at a moderate pace, Naruto appeared to be trying to escape his rather doting mother. "Kaa-san! Please stop! This is really embarrassing. I'll be fine, I promise! No, no, don't do that! Gah!" Naruto jumped free of his kaa-san's grip and landed before his teammates, narrowing his eyes as he spun around on his heels and glared daggers at his kaa-san. What happened next caused the blonde to turn a bright red while the four guys he'd be traveling with for a time broke out into hysterical laughter.

Kushina had used the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to appear at his side and quickly hugged his head to her bosom, effectively trapping his face between her sizeable breasts. The beautiful redhead placed a number of kisses atop his head and forehead and squeezed him tightly against her. "You'd better be okay Naruto-kun! I won't be happy if you come home missing an eye or an arm or something! I don't care if it's just an 'easy C-rank mission' either! Anything could happen, so I want you to be careful, look after your teammates, and make sure to protect your client! Don't you dare fail or you're not going to have any ramen for an entire month when you get back!"

Naruto paled at that and looked up into his kaa-san's eyes. "You're kidding me, right?" Kushina shook her head and smiled widely down at her musuko. The blonde groaned and shook his head. "That is so not fair. Fine, fine. We'll be careful and the mission will go really well. I'm not about to lose my ramen!" Kushina giggled cutely and nodded again. "Good. Now, go on and get going! Look, you've kept your teammates waiting. Good-bye Musuko! Have fun!"

The young Uzumaki-Namikaze boy shook his head and turned around to face his team. "Did you enjoy the show? Please let's just get going before she gets too clingy again. When Kaa-san heard I was leaving for a month, she clung to me and started crying." Shivering at that, Naruto dodged another hug from his upset kaa-san and dashed off down the road. "Please, just hurry up and let's go! Kaa-san's acting too weird! It's uncomfortable dattebayo!" Everyone laughed again and, after wishing Kushina Uzumaki a fond farewell, they took off down the road to catch up to the excited young Uzumaki-Namikaze.

_**Twenty Minutes Later – On the Road**_

As Team 10 walked along, they were all talking about random things that were of no real importance to the mission, and they weren't even really getting to know one another. Asuma had talked with Tazuna for a time while Shino kept watch with his kikaichu in front. Meanwhile, bringing up the rear was Choji and Naruto, just talking about random nonsense such as the food they packed and Choji's crush on some girl he met a few weeks back.

Suddenly the team came across a puddle and Naruto, Shino, and Asuma all realized the problem right away. Naruto leaned in close to Choji and whispered the problem to him while Shino and Asuma prepared themselves. As they passed the puddle, the Demon Brothers leapt from the puddle and began their attack. As they closed in to attack Asuma, Choji slammed into Meizu while Naruto stopped Gozu with his nodachi. Asuma and Shino stood guard in front of Tazuna while the two friends challenged the Kiri missing-nin known as the Demon Brothers.

Gozu and Meizu looked to each other and nodded their heads. Releasing the chain, they separated and began to attack their individual opponents. Gozu continuously tried to pierce or scratch Naruto with his poisoned gauntlet, but each of his strikes was blocked quite skillfully. Eventually, when Gozu got fed up with his opponent blocking, he attempted to go through hand seals only to lose the fight in that moment. Naruto smirked and spun his nodachi in a circle at his side before swinging it forward and shouting out, "**Rasen no Chakura no Nami (Spiraling Chakra Wave)**!" Shooting forth from his sword were three spiraling streams of yellowish chakra that slammed into Gozu and sent him crashing to the ground, numerous gashes suddenly appearing all over his body. Try as he might, the young missing-nin from Kirigakure couldn't rise again.

Meanwhile, Meizu wasn't faring much better against Choji Akimichi. Despite the young man's girth, Meizu couldn't land a blow. While it was true that all he had to do was land a single blow and the poison would likely do him in, the Akimichi was either blocking all of his attacks with a kunai or dodging under or around his attacks. Eventually, Choji got tired of the dance routine and threw his arm forward after shouting out, "**Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Multi-Size Technique)**!" and nailed Meizu in the face with a rapidly expanding fist.

After Meizu landed beside his crippled brother, Asuma tied them up and strapped them to a nearby tree. As soon as the fight had come to an end, everyone instantly turned to Tazuna and narrowed their eyes. "Talk. Now!"

Tazuna shriveled under their intense gazes and caved soon after they threatened to leave him there. As he talked, they learned about Gato and the trouble in the Land of Waves. When his tale finally ended, the three Genin turned to their sensei who ended up letting out a heavy sigh. "If this was any other team, I'd suggest we turn back and leave Tazuna-san to his fate. We're likely to encounter a much stronger opponent next time, and while I personally don't like it, I'll leave the decision up to you three. What do you want to do?"

Naruto, Shino, and Choji each turned to each other and decided to talk things out. After a short time, the young Uzumaki-Namikaze turned to his Jonin sensei and smiled. "We've agreed that we will not leave Tazuna-san to the mercy of Gato and whoever else might be out to kill him. However, it would be a good idea if we sent word back and requested another team's assistance. Can you please send word back to Jiji-sama and ask him to send us back-up as soon as possible? He should also send a team to retrieve these two as it wouldn't be wise to simply leave them here." Naruto explained as he nodded towards the Demon Brothers. "Personally, I think it would be wise to remain here until our back-up arrives, but it might be a good idea to leave it up to a vote."

Asuma nodded his head and looked to Tazuna. "Tazuna-san? Do you think Gato might send someone to kill your family once he learns the Demon Brothers have failed?" Tazuna frowned and shook his head while shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know. I figured he might send ninja after me, but I don't know what lengths he'll truly go to in order to get what he wants. Personally, I'd like to return home as soon as possible." The Jonin sensei nodded and turned to his students. "I'll send the letter to Pops and we'll wait until I get a response. After that, we'll continue on. Understood?"

Naruto smiled and nodded his head. "Yes, Asuma-sensei." Each of the Genin stated in unison before they took Tazuna off to the side and sat with him to discuss more with him about his home and his family. Meanwhile, Asuma began to write the letter to his tou-san.

_**Three Hours Later**_

As Team 10 was nearing the edge of Fire Country, they heard noises off to the side of the road and were quickly on the defensive, each of them taking up a position around Tazuna with weapons at the ready. In an instant, a second Konoha team was in the clearing, each of them with their hands raised in a placating manner. "Hey, hey, no need to act so hostile. We were the closest team, so Hokage-sama sent us. Isn't that right team?"

Everyone in Team 10 recognized one of their backup team's members immediately: Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze. Upon noticing each other, Naruto and Naruko rushed to each other and hugged each other tightly. "Naruto/Naruko!" They shouted in unison. "Hey Otouto, looks like this is our first mission together, huh?" Naruto smirked and nodded his head. "Yeah. Those two Chunin a while back were a piece of cake, but the mission's gonna get a lot tougher, I'm sure of it. It's good to have you here Naruko-chan. We could use your help."

Asuma chuckled and nodded his head. "Yes, Naruto is right. It's good to have your team here Kirobi-san. Your team has more experience than ours does and you've been out of the village far more often. Your team's experiences will be invaluable here. I'll explain everything in further detail as we move. We're almost to the border. We'll take a boat from there to the Land of Waves. Once we reach the opposite shore, Tazuna has assured me it should only be a matter of hours before we reach his home. We'll have to keep a constant watch until then." Everyone nodded and soon they began their journey again with Naruto sticking by Naruko, both of them talking about what their teams had been up to before they met up. Meanwhile, behind them, standing next to his other teammate, Marco was glaring daggers at the back of Naruto's head while his hand was constantly hovering over his kunai pouch. It was obvious that he did _not_ like Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze for some reason.

Shino, having noticed this, turned to Choji and pointed discreetly at Marco. "Choji-san, we may need to keep a close eye on that one. The mission may have become easier…or it may have become much, _much_ more dangerous. I say we should be prepared for absolutely anything." Choji nodded in agreement and cracked the knuckles in his fists before whispering back to his bug-using friend. "If that jerk tries anything to hurt Naruto or Naruko-san, I'll kick his puny ass." Shino nodded at that and the two continued to watch not only Marco, but their surroundings as well. The two of them weren't about to let anything threaten their friend or their client.

**A/N: Firstly, I apologize for the delay on getting this story uploaded. It might not be my best chapter either. I've been having a really crappy past three days and it's been affecting my writing somewhat. But that's enough of that.**

**Second, I would like to point something out. If any of you have happened to check some of the recent reviews, you may have noticed one long rant from somebody. Let me just say a little something in response to that particular rant:**

**If you aren't enjoying my stories, there's a very simple solution rather than ranting about me being _original_ and _creative. _All you have to do if you don't enjoy a story, ANYBODY'S story, is to simply stop reading and move along to a different fanfiction or go on and do something else. Instead, some of you tend to read all the chapters of a person's fanfiction just SEARCHING for anything you can to complain about. That is exactly what this particular person chose to do. So, again, if you don't enjoy a fic, DON'T READ. Very simple solution.**

**Next, let me just say that a fanfiction is not meant to follow canon and not everything is going to be the same as it is in canon. A lot of things won't actually follow _your_ logic, if you can even call it that. First of all, it's called fanfiction for a reason. _Fan_ - this indicates that it's a story written by a _fan_ or _fans_ of whatever story-type you happen to be reading. In this case, Naruto. _fiction_ - this is pretty much self-explanatory. The story isn't fact, it's simply fiction. In this case, what you happen to be reading is fiction based on an anime/manga series that is, in itself, FICTION. Okay? It's not meant to be the same as canon, and logic holds no true grounds in stories such as these. So if you cannot appreciate originality or the simple fact that people will have differences of opinion, then that's entirely your problem.**

**Am I pissed off? Is that why I am saying these things? Nah, of course not. As I've said before, flaming me doesn't matter. But I've seen it far too often and with some pretty creative people too. If something written in a chapter or story or whatever bothers you, that's fine, that's understandable, but rather than rant about it, try to offer some constructive criticism. What was left as a review on Chapter 2 of this story by a certain member does not fall under the category of constructive criticism. In simple terms, it is one big rant meant to appear as a piece of constructive criticism. In reality, it's a jab at a person's creativity and originality.**

**Now, for those of you that have enjoyed the various ideas I have come up with, I thank you. As I have said before, I'll gladly accept any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism offered and I will try to improve based on whatever problems you might actually have. ^^ Personally, I am damn proud of the chapter that this particular person chose to rant about. Chapter 2 of this story I had a lot of fun writing and I'm glad that, for the most part, it went over quite well.**

**Anyways, again, I've been feeling pretty crummy for days now so this chapter might not be my best piece of work. But I don't think it turned out _too_ bad. Hopefully everybody enjoys it. ^^ Next up is Chapters 10 & 11 of Rise of Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, so fans of that be sure to be on the lookout for those! ^^ See ya!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This is simply a small warning to inform you that there are some dark scenes in this chapter that may bother some readers. Take care, and please keep in mind that you have been warned. I cannot say much as it would ruin some major parts of this chapter.**

**Chapter 4 – Confrontations & Danger**

Despite Marco's twitching and angry attitude whenever the entire way, the trip to the coast was made in peace. The two teams and Tazuna packed themselves on the boat and remained quiet as the bridge builder's friend rowed them across to the other side. When everyone saw the incomplete bridge through the fog, the majority of them let out a series of collective gasps. The only ones out of the two teams that hadn't seen the bridge before that didn't show any shock at the sheer size of the bridge being built were Marco and Kirobi.

Those two members of Naruko's team were currently glaring daggers at Naruto, although young Naruto didn't quite recognize it. As the others began to whisper amongst themselves and Tazuna about the bridge, Kirobi leaned in close to Marco and began his own private conversation with his Genin student. "Marco, I want you to listen to me _carefully_." When Marco nodded his head just a fraction of an inch to signal that he heard and understood what his sensei wanted from him, Kirobi began again. "This is a very dangerous mission. It's understandable that Genin fresh out of the academy may end up 'perishing' on such a mission. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"

Marco let one corner of his lips curl upwards into a sinister smirk and he nodded again as he turned to face his sensei. "Oh, I hear you sensei. You want me to get rid of the 'problem' don't you sensei?" Kirobi smirked sinisterly back and nodded his head. "I'm tired of Naruko causing us problems because she wants to be close to that little shit of a brother she holds so dear. You three could have made Chunin in the very first Chunin Exams after you became Genin, but she's been holding you back and it's because of _him_. Get rid of him and I guarantee that Naruko won't fight us ever again. But, to sweeten this little deal…" Leaning in even closer, Kirobi cupped his hands around his mouth and his student's ear. "She won't refuse you _ever_ again. Naruko's spirit will finally be crushed, and you can finally have her. _Don't fail._"

As Marco nodded and the two of them began to discuss their plan, Shino's left eyebrow twitched upwards and he glanced over to the two of them as one of his insects chose that very moment to return to him and relay the discussion taking place. Nodding his head calmly, he double-checked to make sure that the rest of his insects were still in place, spying on the conversation being held, before he turned to Choji and nudged him. "It appears that we were right. Marco and Kirobi are plotting to kill Naruto during this mission. Be prepared Choji-san. My insects will relay more information to me on their plan as soon as possible." Angered, Choji clenched his fists and nodded his head. Soon, he had a large bag of chips in his hand and began munching as quietly as possible, seeing as they were still crossing the water.

_**Later, on the road to Tazuna's Home**_

A short time after reaching the shore and said good-bye to Tazuna's friend, the group continued on their way to Tazuna's house. Along the way, they heard the occasional rustling in the bushes, but more than that, some of them felt a sinister presence in the area that _wasn't_ a part of their group. Eventually, Marco got fed up with it and threw a kunai into the bushes and nearly impaled a sweet, little bunny rabbit. However, just a few short moments later, the group was under attack and everyone hit the ground to avoid being cleaved in half by a rather large sword.

Rising to their feet, everyone stared at the sword impaled in a tree and watched as a man appeared, crouching atop the blade. Whistling in appreciation, Asuma nodded his head and found himself smirking. "Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist. After the Demon Brothers, I figured you'd be next." Slipping his chakra blades out of their hiding places on his person and clutching them tight in his hands, the Sarutobi smirked. "I'm going to enjoy fighting you."

Zabuza smirked and hopped down, slowly pulling the Kubikiribōchō (Decapitating Carving Knife) from the tree and swinging it around before him. Finally holding it out at his side, the man grinned behind the bandages and glanced around at the Genin before settling his eyes on his target. "Nobody here has to die. Just step aside and hand over Tazuna. Otherwise…I won't be held responsible for the deaths of these poor children."

At this, Naruto stepped forward and took hold of his new tanto, the Akuryouno Ame, and smirked. Twirling the blades around in his hands, he shook his head at Zabuza. "You're going to have to go through all of us to get our client _Zabuza_. There's a ton of us and only _one_ of you. So just bring it!" Before anything could happen, Asuma walked up and thwapped Naruto atop his head and sighed. "_You_ aren't going to be fighting him. You and your fellow Genin are going to guard Tazuna. Kirobi, you protect them. _I_ will fight Zabuza. We don't know enough about our opponent to just go rushing in blindly, and on top of that we have a client to protect. So don't act rashly, any of you."

Rubbing his head, Naruto grumbled and nodded before stepping back and smiling at their client. "Don't worry about a thing Tazuna-san; we'll keep you safe, dattebayo!" Naruko giggled at this and nodded her head before taking her position on Tazuna's other side. The other four Genin took up positions around Tazuna, with Marco near Naruto on his right and Shino on Naruto's other side, mostly to keep an eye on Marco just in case he attempted anything during the fight.

Kirobi took his position and shot a quick glance to Marco, giving him a silent signal that now was his chance. Marco, quickly affirming that he understood, decided to keep a close eye on the fight and on Naruto. _Soon Naruto, soon you'll be out of my way! I won't tolerate you any longer!_ Meanwhile, on Naruto's other side, Shino gave orders to some of his kikaichu to plant themselves on Marco and wait for the order to act. He didn't trust the boy to act in accordance with the mission, nor did he trust him around Naruto _at all_.

When a heavy mist began rolling in and blanketed the entire area, Marco smirked and took that chance to lunge out with a kunai aimed straight at Naruto's neck. However, right before he could reach Naruto, his arm suddenly grew incredibly heavy and the kunai fell from his grip. When he collapsed to the ground moments later, he saw Shino glaring down at him from Naruto's other side, but only barely. "D-Damn you…"

Shino smirked down at him and shook his head before speaking up. "We'll talk after this is over _Marco_. You don't attack a teammate, and you don't attempt to take the life of a fellow Konoha shinobi." That was all that was said before each of the Genin heard Zabuza's voice from right between all of them. Asuma, reacting quickly, dispersed all of the mist and moved to intercept the rogue ninja before he could kill their client, or worse yet, one of the Genin. _Damn it! I'm too far away!_

Right as Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō was about to cleave Tazuna's head from between his shoulders, three swords suddenly rose up and blocked the strike. In an amazing show of skill and power, Naruko and Naruto forced Zabuza back. Nodding to each other, they each poured chakra into their blades and swung, sending crescent blades of pure chakra right at the Demon of the Hidden Mist. Eyes widening, their opponent was forced to block the attacks with his Kubikiribōchō. Much to his shock, the missing-nin was sent skidding back along the ground and was even sent skidding back along the surface of the water nearby.

Twitching angrily, he finally swung his giant cleaver and dispersed the chakra-based attacks before he fell to his knees and snarled angrily. "Damn it! What the hell are you brats?!" Suddenly feeling a presence behind him, Zabuza spun around and blocked Asuma's chakra blades and resumed his fierce battle with the Jonin sensei of Team 10. "You should worry less about the Genin and focus more on me! Remember Zabuza, _I'm_ your opponent! Their duty is to protect the client while mine is to defeat you and ensure _their_ safety."

Meanwhile, as Asuma fought Zabuza out on the water, Kirobi was snarling down at his student. Kneeling down, he watched as Shino's kikaichu returned to him and narrowed his eyes. "Damn. I didn't expect his teammates to be watching out for him in such a way. There will be more opportunities Marco, this is only a setback. Now stand up and stop being such a wimp!" Kicking his student in his gut, he rolled Marco over and glared down at him. "You are so pathetic." Shaking his head, he turned and glared hard at Naruto. "You. Get back into formation. Move out of line again and you'll wish you hadn't."

Naruto blinked at this and shook his head. "Excuse me, Kirobi-_sensei_, but if Naruko and I hadn't reacted, our client would be _dead_. I'm actually starting to question your team's involvement in this mission. No offense to you, of course, Naruko-chan." Kissing her cheek, he smiled softly at her and turned to Kirobi once more. "Do you think we're stupid? That we wouldn't notice? Marco tried to kill me when the mist encompassed our group. My senses aren't as 'dull' as you might expect them to be for a new Genin. I don't know what the hell your problem is with me, but I will tell you this: watch it! Try to hurt me or my sister again and I'll take you down, no matter who the hell you are!"

Kirobi snarled at this, as did Marco, before everyone noticed Zabuza approaching them. Quickly getting into formation, they looked around for Asuma and saw him being held within what appeared to be a large water bubble. Snarling, Naruto glared back at Kirobi and shook his head. "Since you and Marco are too busy plotting against Naruko and me, _we'll_ take care of things. Shino, Choji, please look after Tazuna-san and keep these two from doing something truly stupid. I don't trust them." With that, Naruto turned and twirled his blades around his fingers again. "Naruko-chan, we need to free Asuma-sensei. As soon as one of us sees our chance, we target the real Zabuza and free Asuma-sensei. Okay?" When his sister nodded his way, the blonde Genin grinned and stepped to one side of the Zabuza clone while Naruko took the other.

Zabuza chuckled at this and glanced between the siblings. "Good. After that attack of yours earlier, I was hoping for the chance to kill you two. Show me what you've got." Glancing down at his prisoner, he smirked and pointed with his free hand over at the duo. "Watch as I slaughter your precious Genin before your very eyes. There's nothing you can do to save them so long as you're trapped in here!" Laughing to himself, the Demon of the Hidden Mist ordered his water clone to dispose of the two brats.

Soon, the water clone glanced between its two opponents before it shifted on its feet and dashed straight for Naruko, swinging its Kubikiribōchō at her face in a horizontal arc. Smirking at her opponent, the redhead flipped backwards a few feet and thrust her sword upwards, knocking the Zabuza clone's Kubikiribōchō up and off its original course as soon as the blades connected at the tips. "Uh, uh, uh Zabuza-chan, you picked the wrong opponent. Your clone just won't be enough to take me on."

The clone smirked and went in for another swing, but quickly had to pause in his attack and dodge out of the way when Naruto attacked it from behind. "Don't forget that there are two of us. You shouldn't go underestimating your opponents!" Spinning on his heel, Naruto thrust out his second tanto and struck the clone in the back of its leg. Nodding at each other, the blonde watched as his redheaded sister zipped towards Zabuza and poured more chakra into her blade.

As Naruto finished off the Zabuza clone, the real Zabuza held his Kubikiribōchō in his free hand and prepared to block the redhead's attack, whatever it was. However, what happened next caught him off guard. Naruko suddenly shifted one of her feet and leapt into the air. When she was high in the air, positioned directly above him, she swung her sword and called out the name of her technique. "**Rasensurrashu (Spiraling Slash)**!"

In mere moments, an oddly shaped crescent blade flew from the sword and began spinning wildly to the point it looked as if it was out of control. However, as soon as it came close to Zabuza, the Swordsman of the Mist knew better and quickly leapt away, allowing Asuma to escape the blast zone as well. As soon as the attack struck the ground, it formed a tremendous impact crater that nearly reached the area where Tazuna and his current guardians were standing.

Zabuza eyed the destruction wide-eyed for just a moment before he was set upon by Asuma and his chakra blades once again. For a brief period of time, the two clashed blades before determining they couldn't simply win in a kenjutsu battle against one another. Leaping away from each other, they both flashed through hand seals and announced the names of their jutsus as soon as they were finished. "**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)**!" "**Futon: Idai na Kazedoragon no Jutsu (Wind Release: Great Wind Dragon Technique)**!"

The two techniques roared as they slammed into each other, causing huge gusts of wind to splash water all about the surrounding area. The occupants of the surrounding area were quite thoroughly drenched and their clothes were ruffled by the overwhelming winds. By channeling chakra to their feet, they managed to stay standing, but aside from that, they were a total mess.

Asuma and Zabuza on the other hand were standing still, flashing through hand seals once again. However, this time Asuma finished first and announced the name of his technique, much to Zabuza's chagrin. "**Wind Release: Air Bullets**!" Soon, numerous small balls formed from the wind around them and began shooting forward, each of them striking Zabuza until he was eventually thrust backwards and hit a nearby tree hard enough to break it in half.

As the swordsman slumped down, still gripping his sword tightly, he began to snarl. "Y-You bastards…" Zabuza slowly began to struggle to his feet, but before he could rise he felt three quick, sharp pricks in the side of his neck and quickly lost consciousness. A few short seconds later, a Kiri hunter-nin jumped down and examined Zabuza for a moment before looking over at the Konoha ninja. "I thank you for your assistance in subduing and eventually bringing down Zabuza Momochi. I have been tracking this one for quite some time, and when I finally caught up to him, he was already engaged in battle with you and your team. I apologize for using you, but I was waiting for the right time to strike."

Rising to his feet, the hunter-nin turned and bowed to the Konoha nin and glanced back down at the ex-member of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist. "Do take care, these are dangerous times. Farewell." With that, before anyone could object, the brown-haired hunter-nin knelt down, threw Zabuza over his shoulders, and disappeared.

Sighing, Asuma slumped to his knees and shook his head. "Hot damn am I exhausted." Shaking his head, he smiled when he felt a couple of hands on his shoulders. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Thanks for the concern though Naruto, Naruko." Rising to his feet, he glanced towards his client and sighed softly. "I think we need to get to your house real soon. It's important that we all sit down and talk." Tazuna nodded and began to lead the way to his house.

As they walked, Naruto and Shino walked beside Asuma and looked up at him. "Asuma-sensei, there's more that we need to talk about besides just Zabuza." The Sarutobi frowned down at his students and raised an eyebrow. "Does this have to do with that little discussion I heard earlier?" Naruto chuckled softly and nodded his head. "Oh yeah. Marco and Kirobi are plotting to kill me sometime on this mission. If I had to fathom a guess, it's because of what they want from Naruko-chan." Asuma frowned and shook his head. "This is just great…"

_**Short time later – Tazuna's House**_

Currently, the group was sitting around Tazuna's table, each of them shooting glares at Naruko's teammates. They had arrived a short time ago and, after explaining the current situation to Tazuna's lovely daughter, a woman going by the name of Tsunami, she went off to cook them dinner and get them some tea. Finally, as soon as Tsunami was out of the room, everyone, including Tazuna, had rounded on Naruko's teammates and sensei and Asuma had called them out. "Alright Kirobi, talk. Explain yourself!"

After the room had been silent for just so long, Kirobi finally sighed and pointed at Naruto. "That little shit right there is the ENTIRE reason my team's been held back this long. My Genin are each incredibly skilled and more than capable, and yet they're stuck as Genin because this little bitch wants to be with her precious fucking brother! They could have been Jonin by now and I could have moved on!"

After Kirobi was finished speaking, Naruto was fuming. "Don't." Soon, all eyes were on the blonde and Kirobi was smirking. "Don't? Don't what gaki?" "Don't call my sister a bitch!" In a flash, Naruto had Kirobi pinned against the wall with a kunai pressed against his neck. "I've heard so much about you and that little shit Marco already, and your actions today have only further proven the kind of scum you truly are. Say one more hurtful thing about my sister and you'll lose your head! I don't care about the repercussions I could suffer as a result of killing you, I _will_ do it!"

Marco soon rose and went to defend his sensei, only to have Shino and Choji block his way. Meanwhile, Asuma rose from the couch and walked over to Naruto, placing his hand upon his arm. "Calm yourself Naruto. Just wait until we return to Konoha. We're going to have a talk with my old man about this. Plotting and attempting to kill a fellow Konoha shinobi? You can bet they're going to suffer the consequences. Plus, Pops really likes you Naruto-kun. Just watch, these two are going to pay for their crimes. But first…"

Kirobi sighed and narrowed his eyes. For a moment, he didn't dare say a thing, as he wasn't quite taken with the idea of accidentally slitting his own throat on the kunai Naruto currently held against it. When Naruto finally lowered the blade, the cruel Jonin sensei released another breath that he was holding and shook his head. "First what Asuma? You're going to dish out some kind of punishment? Tie us up? What?"

Asuma smirked and shook his head. "No, first you and Marco are going to help us complete this mission. _Then_ we'll tie your butts up. And until then, you're going to be under constant watch. Marco by his fellow Genin, and you by _me_. Zabuza's not quite dead yet, as I'm sure you and your team already know, Zabuza's _not_ dead. To top that off, we still have to figure out what to do about Gato. It's not likely that he'll just give up, even after we've finished off Zabuza and his little lackey."

Choji looked around dumbly for a time and scratched the top of his head. "Ummm, can somebody please fill me in? I thought that hunter-nin finished Zabuza off? How is he still alive?" Kirobi and Marco began to laugh at this before the black-haired Jonin sensei focused his attention on Asuma once again. "Your Genin team is pathetic Asuma. That one's a fat dumbass, Bug Boy probably doesn't do much thinking at all, and Blondie? Blondie here's just going to hold you back like _Bitch_ has done to my team."

Kirobi smirked as Naruto went to attack him again, only for Asuma to hold him back. Shino had to restrain Choji, and in the moment when both were being restrained, Marco dashed past Shino and Choji and aimed another kunai for Naruto's ribs. However, before he could reach him, Naruko appeared before him and pierced his left shoulder, forcing him to relinquish his grip on the kunai. As the brunette dropped to his knees and glared up into her deep blue eyes, he snarled angrily. "Damn you Naruko. Stop…obsessing over him! This is pointless!"

Removing her blade from her teammate's shoulder, Naruko kicked him hard in the face and sent him tumbling backwards. "Shut the hell up and sit still. If either you or Kirobi-sensei targets my brother again, I'll kill you both. You both seem to forget who our father was. More importantly than that though, you forget who our _mother_ is! Once she finds out, she'll make sure the two of you suffer for the rest of your miserable fucking LIVES for what you've done!" Twirling her blade, Naruko did a quick swipe with a cloth and slipped both it and her blade away in one amazingly quick motion.

Turning to Choji, Naruko smiled softly and nodded her head. "Don't worry Choji-san. Don't let the grouch get to you. To put it simply, that hunter-nin's a fake and is most likely working with Zabuza-chan. If you're still confused, then let me ask you a question. Did you happen to notice what weapon the hunter-nin used?" Choji slowly nodded his head and scratched at his non-existent chin hairs. "Hmm. Well…that hunter-nin, erm, sorry, _fake_ hunter-nin used senbon. Wait…"

Naruko smirked and nodded her head. "Looks like you've caught on. Those generally aren't the weapon of choice when you're trying to kill someone. At best, they'll put a person into a state that resembles death for a temporary period of time. We've seen it happen once or twice before on my team during a few of our missions, but this guy…" The redhead shook her head and laughed quietly. "This guy's good; knew exactly where to aim. Zabuza will probably be out of commission for a week at best. He has to recover from what that hunter-nin did, but on top of that he also has to recover from the injuries he suffered at the hands of Asuma-sensei." Turning, Naruko bowed to Asuma and grinned at him. "Great job kicking his ass by the way!"

Asuma smirked and nodded his head. "I'll be sure to kick Zabuza's ass again the next time we meet. Now, there's something else that needs to be dealt with." At this, Asuma released Naruto and watched as the blonde approached Naruko's final teammate and eyed him closely. "That kid, the one who hasn't said a single damn word yet…what's his deal? Is he part of your plan to get rid of Naruto too, or is he really just another Genin along for the ride?"

Kirobi smirked and shrugged his shoulders as he looked over at the final member of his team. "Rihoshi doesn't even talk unless he feels he needs to. I honestly don't know that much about the kid. I can tell you this though: he's even more talented than Marco when it comes to being a shinobi." Choosing to flash Asuma a cryptic smile, Kirobi slowly turned his gaze back to Rihoshi, a tall teenage boy with bright white hair wearing mostly purple clothing. His hitai-ate was tied around his neck and he always appeared to have his eyes closed.

Tilting his head at all the attention, Rihoshi turned and appeared to be gazing straight at Naruto with his eyes closed and grinned brightly at the fellow Konoha shinobi. Nodding his head, the boy calmly spoke. "I mean you no harm Naruto. Nor you Naruko. Marco and Kirobi-sensei may be plotting evil against the two of you, but you can _trust_ me." Giggling to himself, the boy rose and turned his head towards the kitchen. "Tsunami-san, perhaps you can help guide me to my room? I would very much like to lie down and relax for the evening. I thank you for cooking dinner, but I do not require it."

As Rihoshi walked off with Tsunami, Naruto's lip was twitching in an upwards direction at the same time his eyes narrowed and left eyebrow started twitching uncontrollably. "I-Is he always so creepy? When he giggled…it sounded so…so…cold, maniacal…_crazy_!" Naruko sighed and shook her head as she slapped a hand to her face. "Yeah…yeah. Rihoshi's a bit weird, but he hasn't given me any problems yet. Whenever a Chunin Exam comes around and Sensei would like to sign us up, Rihoshi tends to side with them because he'd like to test himself or something. So, he tends to rub me the wrong way during those times. Every other time though, he's been nothing but nice to me. Sadly though, he can kind of weird people out."

Finally, Tazuna chose to step forward and look Asuma dead in the eyes. "Asuma-san, I feel as if I need to confirm something here. In light of certain…shall we say 'developments' between your two teams and the traitorous actions shown by these two…" The bridge builder motioned between Marco and his sensei, Kirobi here. "Are you really going to be able to protect me? Is my _family_ going to be safe? These two aren't going to try and hurt me or my family…are they?"

Kirobi scoffed at this and shook his head. "We're on a mission and you are our client. Even if we wanted to, there'd be no sense in killing you. Like it or not, my student and I are loyal Konoha shinobi and will protect you with our lives. You have nothing to fear for yourself or your family Tazuna-san. Our beef is only with Naruto and there is no reason to bring you or your family into such matters. You're safe."

When Kirobi had finished talking, Naruto scoffed himself and began to laugh. When the blonde youngling finally calmed down and smirked up at Kirobi, he smirked. "Loyal Konoha shinobi? The two of you? You're kidding, right? The two of you were plotting against me! Trying to kill me on this mission! How in the hell is _that_ **loyal**?!" Taking offense to his attitude, Kirobi went to attack him, only to be slammed back into the wall by Asuma. "Enough! All of you! For the rest of this mission we are going to get along and work _together_! After dinner, we are going to get some sleep. _All_ of us. We will discuss everything in the morning: who guards Tazuna and when, training schedules for all of you Genin, who looks after Tazuna's family, etc. Is that clear?" When everybody nodded, Asuma grinned and slipped away his chakra blades. "Good. Now, let's enjoy dinner."

_**The Next Day – Midday – Waters outside Tazuna's House**_

Asuma smirked as he watched Naruko and her brother spar on the water. Shino, Choji, and Marco were currently guarding Tazuna at the bridge while he had the others training in the art of water-walking. However, rather than the typical exercise, the adult Sarutobi was having two of them spar while the other, or others as the case may be depending on the number of Genin with him for the day, would practice performing various jutsu while walking or running atop the water.

In this particular instance, Rihoshi was performing some odd darkness-based techniques atop the water. It was curious to Asuma, but he shrugged it off and chose to focus primarily on the duel between Naruko and Naruto while Kirobi watched over his own student. The two of them had been going at it like this ever since their training started a little over two hours ago.

Both teams had eaten breakfast and discussed their plans for the week during. The basic plan was to keep at least Marco away from Naruto and Naruko whenever possible. Kirobi seemed content to just sit back and watch and wait, so the man was pretty much being left to his own thoughts by Asuma and the others. So long as he didn't try anything against Naruto, Kirobi would be fine for the upcoming battle against Zabuza.

Then there was Marco. That particular Genin was a troublemaker through and through. It was obvious to everyone that he wasn't just going to let things go as they were. Whether they liked it or not, he was going to continue searching for some way to get rid of Naruto once-and-for-all. But Asuma couldn't help but feel as if there was something more to it than that. Looking between the siblings dueling on the water to the best of their ability, his eyes finally settled on Naruko and the bearded Jonin frowned. _From what I've been told, Naruto and Marco just met at the start of this blasted mission. This whole situation revolves around her, doesn't it?_

As if sensing somebody's eyes on her, Naruko quickly parried Naruto's attack with her sword and turned her gaze towards Asuma. Seeing his eyes on her, the redhead quirked up an eyebrow, shrugged her shoulders, and resumed her duel with her otouto. _Probably just thinking about something._ Giggling as her brother tried again and again to strike her just once; Naruko ducked low and, in one quick, fluid movement, flung her otouto over her shoulders and kicked him down into the water. "Poor Naruto-kun. I've had more practice water-walking than you've had. Keep it up though, you almost had me!"

_**Two Days Later – Dinner**_

Training had been going rather well for all Genin, and so far there had been no attacks on Tazuna just yet. All-in-all, despite the current situation, things were actually looking pretty well. However, for each day they had been there, a little runt of a kid named Inari had been giving the Konoha ninja a hassle about even coming to their small village. Apparently, in the kid's eyes, they were all stupid for even trying. At one point, Naruto had to knock Marco out because he had taken a kunai and lunged at the kid, scaring him to the point he wet himself before running away to his room.

Now, Inari was on his usual rant again, but Naruto had finally had enough of it. As Inari ranted and complained, the blonde was trying as hard as he could to eat and remain silent, but the ever growing tick mark on his forehead, hovering just above his left eye was signal enough that he was about to blow his top. Finally, it happened and Naruto set his bowl of food down politely before slamming his hands down on the table and narrowing his eyes. "Good lord kid, would you shut the hell up already?!"

Rising up, Naruto practically towered over the kid even though he was a short young man himself, standing at only about four feet, eleven inches. Reaching out, he grabbed the squirt of a kid by his ear and yanked on it hard enough to make Inari scream out in pain. "You lost your father? Big whoop kid. Everyone in your village has probably lost somebody. But…you see my sister right there? Naruko-chan? When she was just two years-old, our father died. He died on the very same day that I was born. I never got to know my tou-san, but I know he was a great man. Now, look at the man you called your father Inari and think. Would he be proud of what you have become? Of how you've just given up and started pulling this crap with all those who try to actually HELP you? No! Your father was a brave man and he'd want you to continue fighting on for what's right and what you believe in. So do the right thing and shut up. Honor your father's memory instead of destroying it by being a little punk! I'm going outside. Good night everybody."

With that, Naruto released Inari, quickly finished up his meal, and stepped outside to cool off. Seeing this, Naruko glanced around at everybody before her eyes finally settled on Inari. Smiling, she bowed her head a moment and apologized to him for her brother before finishing her own meal and rushing out the door. This left the others to talk with Tazuna and his family while Naruto and Naruko stayed together to train the night away.

_**The Next Morning – In the nearby woods**_

After a grueling spar somewhat deep in the woods between the siblings in an effort to help the two of them relax, they fell asleep huddled together in the shade of a rather tall tree. This is the sight that Marco stumbled upon after managing to sneak out of the house earlier this morning. Upon seeing the two of them with their arms wrapped around each other, he began grinding his teeth before a rather cruel idea began to form in his mind.

Reaching into one of his pouches, Naruko's cruel teammate brought out three sealing tags and smirked to himself. Stepping quietly so as not to wake either of his intended victims, the fourteen years-old boy crept closer and closer to the blonde he so hated. Then, in a flash, he slapped the tags to Naruto's forehead, chest, and back and flipped through a quick series of hand seals before shouting out. "**Zenshin Mahi Shiiru (Full Body Paralysis Seal)**!"

Marco smirked as his seals took effect and Naruto woke up screaming as the seals went to work on sealing his body. When the blonde narrowed his eyes up at the bastard, Marco's smirk widened. "Oh, don't give me that look you little shit stain. I haven't even done anything yet. I'm just getting started!" Turning his head, Marco looked down up Naruko, who was just now waking up after hearing her brother scream.

Glancing over, she saw what was going on and when she went to remove the sealing tags, Marco backhanded her and knocked her away. "Uh-uh-uh, he's going to sit and watch Naruko-chan. It's time I got what I wanted." Slowly, Marco began stepping closer to Naruko as she flipped backwards and took a fighting stance. Unfortunately for her, her swords were lying against the tree and were currently out of reach. Groaning to herself, the redhead began flipping through hand seals, but was forced to stop when she felt Marco's fist implanted firmly in her stomach.

Marco snickered as he gripped Naruko's gorgeous red hair firmly. Leaning in close, he kissed her cheek and whispered to her. "Don't even try it. I'm stronger than you are Naruko-chan, and if you keep trying to fight me, it's only going to get that much _worse_. I'm tired of being patient with you." Naruko grimaced and tried to knee Marco in the crotch, only for him to catch her knee and slam her into the ground hard. As she lay on the ground groaning in pain, Marco knelt down and pinned her beneath him. "Little Naruko-chan. Don't you get it yet? I was waiting for this chance. You exhausted yourself training didn't you? You can't fight back in your state. Give in."

Naruto was forced to watch on as Marco forcefully began to grope his sister's breasts through her clothing while he forced a kiss on her. Something inside of him began to snap, and he could feel the paralysis wearing off. Right as he was about to break free, he heard a voice and everyone looked to see what _appeared_ to be a rather beautiful woman stepping into the small clearing holding a basket in 'her' hands. "Get off of her! What the hell do you think you're doing to that young lady?!"

Marco smirked at the feminine person and shook his head. "If you're smart, you'll mind your own business _girl_. I'll have you know I'm a ninja of Konoha. If you get in my way, I'll kill you." The newcomer shook 'her' head and then nodded over towards Naruto. "If you don't get off of her soon, you're going to be the one losing his life young sir. I don't think her friend is too happy with you right now."

Marco shrugged his shoulders and went back to continue his molestation of Naruko. However, the very moment he did, the teenage boy found himself flying through the air. When he finally crashed back into the ground head and face first, pain wracked his entire body and his body began to spasm uncontrollably from the sheer force with which it was struck. When he could finally move again, he rose and turned to see Naruto, only this time he had a strange, red cloak surrounding him. "Damn it Demon, why can't you just stay down and wait your fucking turn?!"

Naruto, still fuming about what Marco was trying to do to his sister, charged forward and began to tear into Marco in a furious assault of punches, kicks, kenjutsu, and more until he felt an insane force pressing down on him from above. Looking up, he saw both Kirobi and Asuma standing over him. Kirobi looked furious, but Asuma simply looked concern. Slowly the blonde's chakra cloak began to recede back into him and he let his tears flow freely. "T-That bastard….that bastard! He tried….arrrrgh! That sick fuck tried to rape Naruko-chan! We can't let him get away with that Asuma-sensei!"

Kirobi, obviously displeased with hearing the demon punk slandering his student's 'good name' decided to speak up. "Shut up Demon brat! My student would do no such thing. YOU'RE the one who decided to let the demon influence him into attacking someone who simply came to fetch you two for breakfast!" Asuma, clearly tired of this, was about to slug Kirobi. However, before he could get his chance, both Naruko and the stranger stepped forward and began to speak.

"I suggest you quit talking Sir. When I arrived on the scene, he had this young lady pinned beneath him and he was attempting to have his way with her. That is _not_ how one fetches somebody for breakfast." Seeing Kirobi about to refute the claim once more, Naruko stepped forward and narrowed her eyes as she looked up at him. "Don't you defend him anymore! First you try and kill my brother, now you're trying to condone Marco's actions?! He attempted to _**rape**_ me Sensei! RAPE! My brother and this lady next to me saved me! And when Naruto's trying to give that sick bastard what he deserves, you ATTACK MY BROTHER INSTEAD! HOW DARE YOU DEFEND MARCO FOR WHAT HE'S DONE?!"

Asuma, tired of Kirobi's bullshit, turned and slammed his fist square into his fellow Jonin's face. "Take Marco and go back to the house. You two will be dealt with when we I return with these two. As for you Miss…?" The bearded Jonin turned back to the feminine person and smiled politely as he gestured for 'her' to give 'her' name. With a smirk, the person stepped forward and bowed politely.

"Hello Sir. My name is Haku, and I just so happen to be a _guy_. Sorry to disappoint." When Haku looked up, he began to laugh cutely at the flabbergasted expressions on everyone's faces. _I swear that never gets old._ "I do apologize, but I was really only out here picking herbs for my oji-sama. I'm glad I could help you with your problem. It's time for me to be going. Take care you two." Smiling sweetly at both Naruto and Naruko, Haku bowed again and stepped off, soon disappearing into the trees.

As soon as Haku was gone and Asuma was left alone in the clearing with the Uzumaki-Namikaze siblings, he let a sigh escape him as he looked upon the duo. Naruto was fussing over his sister and holding her close. They appeared to be quite lost in their own little world at the moment as they conversed and attempted to make sure the other was okay. Shaking his head, he cleared his throat loudly and pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "Come on you two. We need to get you two cleaned up and then you've got bridge duty together for the day. I'll deal with Marco and Kirobi, and then I'll try to come up with some kind of plan so that we can hopefully deal with Zabuza and his accomplice without the two of them. I'd rather not have them anywhere near you two when we're fighting them." Once the two nodded, the kind Jonin sensei led them back towards the house. Of course, as they made their way back, Naruto and Naruko resumed their earlier conversation, or rather in this case, _fussing_ over each other. Shaking his head once again, Asuma let loose another sigh before chuckling softly to himself. _Kids these days._

_**The Day of the Battle – The Incomplete Bridge**_

As expected, Zabuza and his apprentice showed up again on the bridge. Thankfully, Asuma and the other shinobi of Konoha had managed to accurately predict the day that they would make their strike so the citizens of Wave weren't on the bridge when the duo struck. The team guarding Tazuna for today consisted of Asuma, Naruto, Naruko, and Choji. Marco and Kirobi were currently tied up back at Tazuna's house with chakra restriction seals placed upon them to keep them from pulling anymore of their crap. Meanwhile, Shino and Rihoshi were in charge of guarding Tsunami and Inari. Everyone agreed that Gato, being the scumbag that he is, was bound to try something else in order to get what he wanted. Therefore, those two were left behind to watch after the bridge builder's family.

Few words were spoken between both parties. No pleasantries were spared, only jibes and basic insults, with a threat against Tazuna thrown in from Zabuza towards the end. When everyone was finished talking, Haku stepped forward and smirked behind his mask as he eyed both Naruto and Naruko up and down for a moment. Slowly, he formed a kunai of ice in his hand and nodded before disappearing in a blur and striking out at Naruko.

Naruko barely had time to blink as she narrowly dodged to the side and clipped Haku in the side with her sword. Smirking at the blood she drew, she twirled her sword around in her hand and switched to a two-handed grip. "So the apprentice has some speed. Good, I was hoping to have some fun with you before we took the fight to Zabuza himself. Bring it on Mister Tall, Dark, and quite possibly Handsome." Giggling to herself, Naruko began an aggressive duel with Haku, the two of them clashing fiercely in the middle of the bridge while the others watched on.

Naruto, upon hearing his sister's bizarre compliment aimed towards their enemy, raised his left eyebrow while his right arm and hand began to twitch uncontrollably. _N-Naruko. Why? Just…why? Are you trying to get under my skin?_ Sighing softly, Naruto shot a quick glance towards Zabuza to gauge his reaction to the situation. When he noticed that the elder ninja didn't appear worried in the slightest, the blonde took that as a sign that there was much more to Haku than met the eye.

Returning his gaze to the battle, the young Uzumaki-Namikaze's eyes widened as he saw the teenage ice user going through a series of one-handed hand seals while Naruko struggled to break his grip on her weapon. Sensing the danger bound for his sister, Naruto drew his tanto and flashed over to his sister's location, quickly deflecting the thousands of ice needles aimed at his sister's vital points. When all the ice lay upon the bridge surrounding them, Naruto smirked and performed a quick roundhouse kick, sending Haku skidding along the ground away from them. "You're going to have to try and get through me to get to my sister, punk! I promise you that with the two of us as your enemies, you won't be winning this battle."

Naruko quickly thanked her brother before they both watched as Haku turned his gaze towards Zabuza. The boy's mask was slightly cracked from the powerful kick to the face, but it was still hanging on and was virtually perfectly intact. Naruto glanced between the two of them and saw Zabuza nod at his apprentice. "Naruko?" Seeing her glance his way, Naruto grimaced. "Get ready. I have a feeling we're about to be in a _lot_ of trouble." Naruko nodded before they watched a set of twenty-one ice mirrors spring up from the ground around them. Eyes widening, they watched wide-eyed as the apprentice entered one of the mirrors and saw his image appear all around them.

_**Outside the Ice Mirrors**_

Asuma grimaced as he watched the young ice user use his next technique. Swiveling on his feet, the Sarutobi equipped his chakra blades and pointed a fist in Zabuza's direction. "Looks like things are getting a bit hairy over there. There's no choice then. I've got to take you down quickly and help the Genin. Can't go leaving them to the hands of some unknown jutsu like that. Choji! Protect Tazuna-san! Don't let him out of your sight!" Seeing Choji nod out of the corner of his eye, Asuma nodded and chose that moment to begin his assault on the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

Zabuza smirked and quickly swung his Kubikiribocho forward, slamming his blade hard against Asuma's wind-enhanced chakra blades. The Konoha Jonin was forced back a few steps before he suddenly ducked, spun around to the swordsman's side, and slashed at his left side in the process before attempting to impale his blades in Zabuza's back.

The Swordsman of the Mist smirked under his mask and spun on his heel, quickly blocking the attack before slamming his free foot into Asuma's stomach. The Sarutobi was sent reeling backwards from the force of the blow, but he quickly recovered and moved in for another set of attacks. However, it was all the time Zabuza needed to perform his Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Jutsu).

As the fog rolled over the bridge, Asuma cursed to himself and spun around, quickly blocking an attempted strike from the swordsman. _Damn. He pumped far more chakra into the mist this time. He must really be aiming to end this fight quickly. Unless…shit, is he going after Tazuna already?!_ Spinning, the Jonin sensei began a full sprint in Tazuna's direction, only to have Zabuza suddenly appear at his side, swinging his sword in an attempt to cleave Asuma's head from between his shoulders. Cursing once more, Asuma ducked low and punched out, nailing Zabuza hard in the stomach.

However, before he could celebrate about a successful blow, Zabuza melted into a pool of water and he was grazed from behind by the Kubikiribocho. Narrowing his eyes, Asuma twirled around and began to focus on his breathing. _Shit. I fell right into that one. Think Asuma, get rid of the mist first, and then deal with your foe. Fighting blind isn't a bright idea at all!_

_**Within the Ice Mirrors**_

The battle had turned to Haku's favor very quickly after the mirrors had been erected around his foes. Naruto and Naruko had succeeded in blocking most of his attacks at first, but gradually, the ice user began to wear his opponents down. Naruko, being the more experienced of the two ninja, managed to hold out a little longer than her younger brother when it came to deflecting the barrage of ice senbon, but she began to suffer the effects of exhaustion a short time after as well.

Tiring of being struck by so many damn needles and being turned into bloody pincushions, the siblings quickly formulated a plan to try and utilize their speed and jutsu to try and inflict at least one blow on their opponent. Naruko, being the quicker of the two, would be the one moving in for the attack while Naruto provided support for her and added in a jutsu or two to empower her attack.

As soon as Naruko spotted her chance, she blurred off towards the left while her brother began flipping through hand seals for one of his jutsu. Unfortunately, Haku spotted the danger immediately and, rather than continue on with his intended course of action, quickly skimmed across the ground, practically flying towards Naruto. Naruko spotted this and widened her eyes. Panic flooded through her as her body began moving on instinct.

The two reached Naruto at the same exact time, Haku's ice needles piercing her in numerous locations right as Haku went in to strike her brother down. The ice user scoffed at this and quickly disappeared back into the mirrors to avoid their attempted combined assault on him. Watching them from within the safety of his mirrors, Haku watched as Naruko turned her head and smiled softly at her brother as blood dribbled down her chin, slowly leaking from the corners of her mouth. _Damn. She's much faster than I anticipated. Still, there's no way she'll be recovering from that. That just leaves him._

Naruko closed her eyes slightly and nodded her head. "I-I'm…so glad you're alright Naruto-kun. I couldn't l-let him…let him h-hurt you." When Naruto reached out to touch her, to embrace her, Naruko shook her head and her smile softened. "I'm alright…just…just take him down before we l-lose the fight…" Stumbling a few steps forward, the redhead fell to one knee and began to cough weakly. "F-Focus….Naruto-kun. Stay calm…and take him d-down. I just need a little r….re…." And with that, the soft-hearted Naruko passed out, falling the rest of the way forward until she was laying face down on the bridge.

Naruto's eyes widened and he felt something a horrible pain deep inside of him as he watched his most precious person collapse in front of him. Slowly slipping away his dual tantos, the young man took a few steps forward and went to reach down towards her. Suddenly, Naruto froze when he felt a sharp pain in his left hand. Glancing towards it, he saw three ice senbon piercing it and quickly shook his head to clear his head of the negative thoughts. _S-She's not dead…no. I'll….damn you…_ "Damn you!"

The blonde reached down and quickly grasped the handle of the Shi no Tacchi and withdrew it from its sheathe for the first time since receiving it from his mother. The weapon seemed to pulsate in his hands, but Naruto paid no attention to that. Instead, he focused his eyes directly on the spot where Haku was hiding as his eyes darkened. However, instead of his eyes becoming slitted and turning red, they turned black with red slitted pupils, signifying that not only was the Kyuubi influencing his actions, but also something else.

Blinking but a few times, the blonde gaki smirked and suddenly flashed forward in a blur of speed. The ice mirror Haku was hiding in was suddenly blown to pieces with a single attack and Haku was sent tumbling along the ground until he hit the edge of the bridge. Slumping down, the ice user attempted to rise, only to feel a cold chill sweep over his body. The teenager's mask crumbled and his body seized up.

Slowly, Haku raised his gaze and he stared deep into Naruto's cold, darkened eyes. "W-What…are you?" Naruto, clearly recognizing the boy as the teenager that helped him and his sister before, hesitated but a moment before he narrowed his eyes even further. "You…you bastard! After helping us, you choose to try and kill us?! Look at what you've done to her! LOOK AT HER YOU COLD-HEARTED MONSTER!" Gripping Haku's chin roughly with his free hand, Naruto forced him to look over at his crumbling mirrors as Naruko was revealed to them both. "You've hurt her! You hurt her really badly! What if she never wakes up?! What if she's dead?! What will I do then you monster?!"

Haku chuckled softly and shook his head. "N-No…she is…is not dead Naruto-san. I p-promise you that." Coughing suddenly, Haku retched and spit up a small quantity of blood off to his side. "U-Ugh…I can't even move. What kind of attack w-was…that?"

Naruto shook his head and turned his gaze back to his opponent as Zabuza's mist suddenly began to clear up. "This blade was bestowed upon me by my mother. Her friend requested that she give it to me as a gift. It is called Shi no Tacchi. And…I don't really know much more than that." Chuckling nervously, the blonde rubbed the back of his head and shrugged his shoulders gently while Haku sweat dropped somewhat. "From the looks of things…you're actually not going to last too much longer, are you? I cut you pretty deep."

Haku sighed and glanced down at his chest. Sure enough, there was a deep, diagonal slash down his body. Nodding slowly, he closed his eyes and shook his head. "I guess you w-win…Naruto-san. Please d-do…me a favor…?" Seeing the dangerous look in Naruto's eyes, Haku sighed and shook his head again. "I k-know I haven't done anything worthy of earning any f-favors from you…"

At this, Naruto bonked Haku on the top of his head and smirked. "Baka. You helped save my sister earlier…and you didn't kill her. You don't seem like that type of guy to do such a thing anyways. I'd say that for your help earlier, you've more than earned a favor. What is it?"

Haku smiled and nodded while his eyes began to close. "D-Don't…let Zabuza-s-sama die. Zabuza-sama…protected me…gave me a purpose…I l-lived for him. I may have only served as a weapon to my master, but I was truly h-happy…to be able to stand beside him and keep him safe. H-Help…Zabuza-sama find his h-happiness too…I want him to live on and be happy. This h-horrible life…it's not for him. Do…what you can, please."

Naruto gently clutched Haku's hands together in his and nodded calmly. "I…I will do as you ask of me Haku. Rest now. You…you've earned it." Haku smiled softly and slowly his eyes closed all the way until his head slumped to one side. Naruto gently laid Haku down and rose once more, clutching the Shi no Tacchi tightly in his right hand. _I promise you Haku that I will keep your master safe. Even if he turns out to be nothing more than a major pain-in-the-ass, I'll protect him for you. However…what the hell am I really supposed to do? What could make a guy like that happy?_ Shaking his head, Naruto watched as his sensei was moving in to deal the finishing blow to his opponent.

Cursing under his breath, Naruto moved as fast as he could and intercepted his sensei's chakra blades with his Shi no Tacchi. Pushing him back, Naruto took a few deep breaths and shook his head. "It's over Asuma-sensei. Please…don't fight him anymore. H-Haku's…Haku's dead…I killed him. I'm sorry Zabuza. I truly am. After…after what he did to Naruko-chan, I don't really know how to explain what happened…but I won. But…" Turning around to face the swordsman, Naruto noticed that his gaze was now on his deceased apprentice. Sighing, Naruto gently prodded the man in his good arm with the tip of his blade. "Haku made me promise to do something for him. A dying wish if you will."

Zabuza, without turning his gaze away from Haku, spoke up, although his voice was much softer than before. "I…see. Haku always was a softy. There was no way he could bring himself to take away somebody precious to you. I…I heard from Haku about what happened in the woods, gaki. Haku…would never kill your little girlfriend over there. Would never have forgiven himself if he had. What…did Haku ask you to do?" Slowly, he turned to Naruto and smiled through his tears as the boy stared at him in shock. "Don't…look at me like that Gaki. Just…get on with it already."

Naruto nodded and looked hard into Zabuza's eyes. "Haku-san made me promise to watch over you in his place. Haku…wants you to find your happiness. So…will you please put aside this stupid job of yours to assassinate our client? Not for me, but for Haku? Come with us to Konoha. It may not be your style, but you can have a home there. And whatever it is that will make you happy…I will try to help you achieve that happiness. Understand?"

The swordsman chuckled to himself and closed his eyes again. "I have to admit Gaki…I see a lot of Haku in you. You're a good kid doing good things. There's definitely something 'different' about you, but I don't give a crap. I'll honor my student's wishes and stick with you kid. Just…don't let me down. I'll be expecting great things from you." Reaching over with his good arm, Zabuza patted Naruto on the head before turning and trekking over to his now deceased apprentice. Sighing, the gruff Swordsman of the Mist reached down and pulled Haku into his arm and wept silently for him.

"Tch. And here I thought the Demon of the Hidden Mist might actually prove to be something special. You're pathetic Zabuza. Ah well, it's a good thing I had the foresight to prepare for just such an occasion. Men, kill Zabuza, the bridge builder, and the others. You'll be paid when you do your damn jobs. Don't fail me." Everyone turned to the source of the voice and narrowed their eyes as they saw a short, stubby little man with a veritable army of mercenaries behind him. None of them really appeared to be anything special, but one could never be too careful.

Zabuza snarled and prepared to rise, only for Naruto to yell at him. "Zabuza! Stay there and look after Haku's body. You're in no condition to continue on fighting. Asuma-sensei and I can handle these scumbags!" The Swordsman of the Hidden Mist nodded slowly and returned to simply cradling his dead apprentice. "Make it painful Gaki. Don't let that asshole get away." Naruto nodded and grinned darkly. "My pleasure."

Asuma nodded at his Genin student and smiled his way. "I can tell you're just raring to go Naruto-kun. I'll deal with any stragglers. You get Gato and anyone who dares to get in your way." Nodding to each other once more, the two of them dashed forwards. Naruto held his Shi no Tacchi at his side while Asuma pumped more wind chakra into his chakra blades. They split off into different directions as they sprinted forward. Naruto went directly for Gato while Asuma zipped straight for the largest grouping of mercenaries.

Gato, seeing the look that promised his death in the boy's eyes, quickly began backing away, shoving more and more people in front of him to distract the boy. However, just before he could make it to the side and scale back down to his boat, Gato felt a cold presence behind him right before he heard the screams of his mercenaries that were meant to protect him.

Swiftly turning around, Gato watched as the souls of those that were shoved in the way of Naruto were sucked into the Shi no Tacchi. As the sword began to glow a bright, whitish-blue color, Gato began to sweat nervously. The boy was fast approaching him, and there was nowhere he could go. In fact, the short man's legs buckled and he fell to his knees. "P-Please…spare me! Don't do it! I'll pay you whatever you want! Absolutely anything! Name your price!"

Naruto smirked and shook his head. "My price? **How about your soul Gato?**" The incredibly dark tone in Naruto's voice sent chills down Gato's spine and he fainted the very moment before the sword cleaved him in two and ripped his worthless soul straight from the midget's body.

Releasing a heavy sigh, Naruto took a cloth and wiped his blade clean of blood and innards before sheathing it away once more. Turning, he slowly made his way through the carnage and to his sister's side. Kneeling down, he gently brushed the backs of his fingers through his sister's now messy hair and kissed her forehead. "I hope you wake up soon Naruko-chan. I'm sorry you were hurt this badly." Meanwhile, in the background, you could hear the screams of the mercenaries as Asuma continued his slaughter, making sure that not one of them was able to escape. It just wouldn't do to have the fools returning later to cause more mayhem for the poor villagers of Wave, now would it?

**A/N: I don't really have too much to say right now honestly. Things have been both busy and hectic. On top of that, I ran out of my meds a while ago. Without my meds, I have a rather hard time focusing on anything, and it took me quite a while to just buckle down and get this damn chapter written. I tend to have problems collecting my thoughts and such when I'm off my meds, and I get super distracted pretty easily too. x.x; Sorry that it took so damn long to get this up. Still, hopefully the majority of you enjoyed this chapter and will be understanding and patient with me. *nods* Chapter 5 is what I'm working on next, so be looking forward to it alright? ^^ **


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